Albuquerque, N.M. • It was an exhibition game for charity, but the experience the young BYU Cougars picked up at The Pit on Friday night was priceless.
So was the victory.
In a matchup for hurricane relief, sophomore forward Yoeli Childs scored 17 points and grabbed 19 rebounds and BYU outlasted New Mexico 79-73 in front of 4,902 at what is now called Dreamstyle Arena.
BYU committed 23 turnovers in the face of a ferocious New Mexico full-court press, but shot 52 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 48-33 to get the win over its old Western Athletic and Mountain West conference rival.
TJ Haws added 14 points, including three huge free-throws with 36 seconds left, and Elijah Bryant had 13. Luke Worthington started at center and had 12 points and five rebounds.
The Cougars led for most of the first half and took a 37-36 halftime lead. They led 44-38 early in the second half, but UNM went on a 7-0 run to take its first lead since 16-14 and the advantage see-sawed from there until BYU took control around the 4-minute mark.
BYU went on a 6-0 run in a span of 50 seconds to take a 71-67 lead with 3:22 remaining and would not relinquish it.
Less than 24 hours after The Salt Lake Tribune reported that guard Nick Emery is the focus of a school investigation over whether he received improper benefits from a BYU booster, the junior started against the Lobos and scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting in 18 minutes.
BYU officials said Friday afternoon that the Emery investigation has been turned over to the NCAA and the process is ongoing.
“After receiving information about the alleged violations of NCAA rules, BYU contacted the NCAA and has been working to address issues related to Nick Emery’s eligibility,” the BYU statement said. “While we do not comment on a pending investigation, we note that relevant NCAA rules concerning eligibility do not impact a player’s ability to participate in practices, scrimmages, or exhibition games.”
Emery has taken part in most of BYU’s preseason practices and also played in the Blue-White instrasquad game on Wednesday.
The Cougars will play in two more exhibitions — both at the Marriott Center — against Westminster College on Wednesday and Colorado College on Nov. 8.
The season opener is Nov. 11 against Mississippi State at home.