By: Jay Yeomans

Published: August 20, 2019

Rome, Italy – Despite resting some key contributors, the BYU Cougars dismantled LCC International, 87-46, on Tuesday to improve to 2-0 on their four-game trip to Italy.

Arizona transfer Alex Barcello paced the Cougars offensively finishing with a team-best 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor and 2-for-2 at the foul line even though he played just 18 minutes in the lopsided affair.

BYU also got some big-time performances from the interior tandem of Yoeli Childs and Kolby Lee. Childs registered a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds (seven on the offensive end), seven assists and five steals in 25 minutes of work. As for Lee, he showed off some solid touch around the rim totaling 13 points while collecting nine rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.

After falling in a 5-0 hole to start the game Barcello got the offense going with eight first-quarter points as the Cougars went on a 28-6 run to take a 17-point lead after one.

Although the offense slowed down some in the second, Blaze Nield and Lee delivered important baskets as BYU took a 16-point lead into the break.

BYU turned it on to start the second half, opening the third quarter on an 18-4 run to blow the game wide open. Barcello came up huge once again with a steal that led to a 3-point play followed by another basket to get the Cougars off and running. Lee and Dalton Nixon also played valuable minutes in the third and registered a pair of baskets apiece as the Cougars stretched the lead to 33 with one quarter to go.

The fourth quarter wasn’t as pretty but the Cougars still managed to push the lead to more than 40 thanks to some tough defense that held LCC International to just eight points in the final period.

Trevin Knell added nine points in his first appearance in a BYU uniform while Wyatt Lowell also made an impact with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 33 minutes in his debut.

Colby Leifson chipped in with nine points on the strength of three triples while Nixon, Nield, Zac Seljaas and Even Troy contributed four points each.

The BYU Basketball Twitter page shared highlights of the impressive win.

https://twitter.com/BYUbasketball/status/1163974365421039616

Playing without TJ Haws, Jake Toolson, Gavin Baxter, Richard Harward, and Jesse Wade, the Cougars ran out some interesting lineups but just about every one of them worked for the first three quarters against a wildly overmatched opponent.

BYU will have a day off from game action before returning to the floor on Thursday to square off with Stela Azzurra Academy.