BYU basketball faces No. 1 Gonzaga Saturday. Do the Cougs have a chance?

Provo • When news of Yoeli Childs being out with an open dislocation of his right index finger came to light, it seemed like an unfortunate time for the Cougars to be without their leading scorer.

BYU had just started West Coast Conference play, so having Childs out for at least a couple of weeks during the most important part of the season could have been detrimental for the Cougars. And now they will face their biggest test — No. 1 Gonzaga.

However, coach Mark Pope considers the Bulldogs a gift to the WCC.

“The fact that we get to go on the road … and play the No. 1 team in the country and we get to do that because their in our league — it’s awesome,” Pope said. “They’re that good. I mean, they’re so good. They’re so good that they can play bad and still win big. You can talk endlessly about how great that program is. So, we’re excited to go up and fight. We’re going to go fight and our guys believe we can win.”

So far, the Cougars have been up to the challenge of finding ways to win without Childs.

While BYU dropped a heartbreaker in overtime on the road against Saint Mary’s, it had two players — TJ Haws and Jake Toolson — score more than 20 points apiece. Against Portland and San Diego, six Cougars in each game reached double figures.

The fact that the team is comprised of multiple players that can lead the charge has become a hallmark.

It also make it a little more difficult to scout the Cougars. Pope said that’s something he’s always thinking about — what kind of looks are they presenting other teams.

“You've got six guys in double figures … guys scoring all different ways; I love that,” Pope said. “I love playing that way because you walk in from a game into the locker room and everybody feels like they were fully engaged in the game. Now, we don't have that many players, so it's easy to have everybody engaged, but I think everybody feels like they're really contributing offensively and I think our guys are paying attention how everybody's contributing defensively.”

Along with the distributed scoring, in the last two games, the Cougars have also dished out 46 assists while only committing 15 turnovers. Toolson handed out 15 assists in the last two games without turning over the ball at all.

So far in conference play, BYU is averaging 10 made 3-pointers per game and has made 11+ 3-pointers in each of the last two games. In comparison, last season the Cougars only made double-digit 3-pointers twice in league games.

“I think it gives us a lot of momentum going into the Kennel, but we’re playing a whole different beast on Saturday,” sophomore guard Connor Harding said. “But, you know, step by step — it’s a journey. Now we focus in on Gonzaga. Hadn’t really thought about them, but we love playing up there so it’s going to be fun.”

While Pope said Childs has shown some improvement, there’s still no timetable on when he’ll be able to return. But that hasn’t stopped Childs from running sprints after practice.

“He’s being tested right now, isn’t he,” Pope said. “And he’s ringing the bell in a massive way. ... We’re always kind of pushing the frustration at bay and I’m really trying to keep it at bay right now because I feel it. I can’t lie to myself — I feel it. I’m really frustrated for him and for our team right now about that. There’s nothing we can do about it, we don’t spend time talking about it. We have to focus on winning games.”