PROVO — Elijah Bryant didn’t start for BYU basketball as the Cougars tried to regroup following a home loss to Texas-Arlington on the weekend.

He didn’t need to.

Bryant, who injured his foot last Saturday, led four double-figure scorers with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Yoeli Childs supplied 21 points and five boards, to help BYU pull away from visiting Niagara, 95-88 Tuesday night in the Marriott Center.

“He’s one of our captains and one of our most experienced guys. That’s enough said,” BYU coach Dave Rose said of Bryant. “He’s a good player and we need him on the floor. We’ll see how his foot responds after this game because it’s pretty sore.”

TJ Haws chipped in 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for BYU (3-1), and Luke Worthington scored 11 for the Cougars.

The Cougars shot 54 percent from the field, but the Purple Eagles (1-3) didn’t make things easy. Niagara made just 13-of-30 shots in the first half, but rolled up 10 3-pointers to keep the game close until the final moments.

Matt Scott poured in a game-high 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting, and fifth-year senior Kahlil Duke scored 20 for Niagara, which extended its road losing streak to three-straight in the second game of the Barclay’s Center Classic.

Jahshire Hardnett started for the first time in his BYU career in place of Bryant, who came off the bench for the first time of the season after the injury suffered in the 89-75 loss to UT Arlington.

But Hardnett, who finished with six points and three rebounds, hit back-to-back drives to the basket to give the Cougars an early 8-2 lead just over four minutes into the game as BYU made a concerted effort to take advantage of its inside presence.

“The coaches came out and said directly that they thought this would be an important game for us down low,” said Worthington, who made 5-of-6 shots from the field. “We thought that we would have an advantage, and thankfully we have a team that trusts each other so when there’s an advantage on one end, we’re going to go for it.

“Everybody is going to have their night, and we’re just happy that we got the win and that we can contribute down low.”

Scott caught fire, knocking down a quick 10 points paced by a pair of 3-pointers as the Purple Eagles used a 12-2 run to take a 16-13 lead in 10 minutes en route to a 34-31 halftime advantage.

“The fact that we were able to finish the game and win it when we weren’t playing our best on either end of the floor is good,” Rose said. “If you give one guy 36 points, then you try to control him or contain him — but sometimes you are just at his will.”

Bryant started the second half on his sore foot, and Worthington capped a 7-0 run to give the 44-43 edge back to the Cougars just over six minutes into the half.

But BYU couldn’t shake the visitors, thanks in large part to Duke’s 3-point shooting. The Southern California transfer made four second-half 3-pointers to keep the game in check, but the Cougars wrestled control back with Childs’ and-1 with 12:05 left for a 55-50 advantage.

Zac Seljaas, who finished with eight points, drained his second 3-pointer of the game with 8:08 remaining to help BYU begin to pull away, 65-57. Then back-to-back treys by Bryant added to the damage, 73-65 with 5:19 to play as the Cougars pulled away for good in their third of five games in a 10-day stretch.

“It means a lot to be able to learn from a loss, and not letting it turn into two losses,” Childs said. “Everybody did a great job of learning from that.”

Niagara-to-Utah

Former Utah Jazz coach and general manager Frank Layden was honored by the Cougars at halftime of Tuesday’s ‘game.

Layden, a Niagara graduated, coached the Purple Eagles from 1968-76 and led them to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in 1970 before making the jump to the NBA. He relocated to Salt Lake City with the New Orleans Jazz in 1981, and has become an active force in the state ever since.

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