Frank Fanelli

Yoeli Childs scored a career-high 33 points to lead BYU to a win over No. 20 Saint Mary’s 85-72 in Monday night’s West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament semifinal matchup. Childs was 13 of 18 from the field, including hitting all three, 3-point attempts. He also had six rebounds. Third-seed BYU, which shot 61 percent from the field, will play No. 7 and top-seed Gonzaga in the championship game Tuesday night.

Childs played a fantastic game, this dunk basically proved to everyone at the game tonight that he was in control:

Elijah Bryant added 25 points for the Cougars, going 8 of 13 from the field and making all eight free-throw attempts. Jordan Ford led Saint Mary’s with 27 points and six rebounds. The Gaels’ Jock Landale, who fouled out with 21 seconds left, had 23 points but only four rebounds. Landale committed his third foul with 1:49 left before halftime and fourth with 8:39 left in the game. He was a huge loss for the Gaels who needed him down the stretch.

After the Cougars led 41-37 at intermission, they expanded their lead to 67-54 with 7:35 left. Saint Mary’s cut it to 71-65 with 3:24 left, but the Cougars’ hot shooting helped them pulled away in the final three minutes. TJ Haws had 11 points, while Dalton Nixon had 10 points and six rebounds for the Cougars, who will be making their first tournament final appearance in three years. Gonzaga beat BYU twice in the regular season and has won five straight WCC Tournament titles.