We are now oficially in basketball season! The college football national championship game and now the preparation for March madness begins. Which means we get to talk all things BYU basketball. I think BYU basketball is starting to look better and at least a little more consistent. In the last 3 games, BYU has won 2 of them and the other went into overtime. Of course these 3 games were against Oklahoma St, Utah, and Colorado, not exactly the best teams in the Big 12. But in two of them, they won by a good margin. The other was a loss, in a rivalry game, on the road, which is a tough game no matter what.
BYU basketball is winning the games they are supposed to. At least we know, they arent the bottom feeders of the Big 12 after they beat Oklahoma St and Colorado by 16 points each. A tough loss to Utah, on the road, is heartbreaking. BYU looks like they may have found something in this second half of January or are they just playing the easier teams in the Big 12?
Game Recap vs Utah
This was a hard loss to swallow. No team really took control of the game, and both teams were playing ugly basketball the whole game. No one shot better than 45% from the field and both teams shot under 54% from the FT line. The basket was simply not going in the basket. But BYU looked like they might take control at the start of the second half. They grew their lead to 6 and then about halfway through the second half, BYU stopped playing aggressive. They had bad fouls called on them and couldnt get the ball in the hoop after having some carless turnovers.
Play by Play in Second Half
At the end of the second half, Mawot Mag hit a 3 pointer with 51 seconds left to put BYU ahead by 1. Utah scored to put themselves up by 1 and then BYU missed a layup/floater in the lane. BYU fouled and Utah missed 1 FT to put the lead at 2. Fouss hit a clutch shot after a good play to tie the game. BYU played good defense on the last possession and forced OT.
OT Play by Play
In OT, Saunders made a nice driving layup with 57 seconds left to put BYU ahead 2 after a turnover by Utah. It was looking good for BYU! A foul by BYU put Utah on the line and they made 1 FT. BYU was ahead 1 with 47 seconds left. Saunders tried to drive again and ended up turning the ball over which was costly. Utah drew a foul and was at the FT line again. They made both FTs and Utah was now ahead by 1.
BYU took a timeout and had a nice play called up where Baker shot a nice little floater, except, he missed it. You could have called a foul on that play, they had been calling those ticky tack fouls all game, but Baker didnt get the call. The ball went out of bounds to BYU.
On the inbounds, BYU gets fouled and Trevin Knell gets to go to the FT line in a 1 and 1 situation. He ends up missing the first FT to tie the game! Utah gets fouled and they end up missing both of their FTs! Egor Demin gets the rebound and had plenty of time to go coast to coast, but he ends up pulling up for a 3 pointer that wasnt even close. Demin had 5.7 seconds to get to the lane and could have easily made it there but he shot a 3 instead with just over 1 second left. He must have thought he had less time on the clock because it was a bad shot.
Team Stats
This game was a head scratcher from the beginning. BYU struggled mightily. They only shot 27% from 3. BYU has shot very badly on the road this season. They also were 4-10 from the FT line. Thats bad. Speaking of the FT line, I dont want to criticize the refs, but I have to for this game. BYU shot 10 FTs. Utah shot 32 FTs. I get that BYU is more of a 5 out, shooting team, and Utah is more of an inside, drive the ball type team, but that is too big of a difference.
26 fouls were called on BYU and only 17 were called on Utah. BYU also got outrebounded in this game. That hasnt happened quite often this year. But Lovering from Utah was a beast. He is an agile 7 footer who had 13 points and was all over.
The only bright spot for this game was Fouss. He had 16 points. Saunders also had 16 points but he shot 16 shots. He was forcing some shots at times.
Game Recap vs Colorado
Last night, BYU played Colorado. It was the final road game for BYU after being on the road for 11 days. I was interested to see how BYU would respond after playing an emotional rivalry game on the road against Utah that went into OT. BYU didnt jump right out of the gate playing well, but they turned it on to start the second half.
BYU was only ahead 2 at halftime, but by the time they got to 14 minutes left in the second half, only 6 minutes into the half, BYU had stretched their lead to 23. Knell had 9 of those 23 on 3 three pointers. After that run, the lead never got under 14 and BYU won by 16.
Box Score
This was one of the best games of the season for Saunders. He had 25 points, 0 turnovers, and shot 10-15 overall and 3-6 from three. Mag also contributed with 11 points and great defense, Knell had 14 points, and Demin almost had a double double. Demin also looked much better this game. He had 8 points and 7 assists, but just looked more comfortable. BYU was able to stretch their lead in the early part of the second half due to them playing tight defense and then rebounding and getting out on the fast break. Demin was finding guys and attacking the rim and it opened everything up for the Cougars.
BYU also shot the ball much better this game. They havent had very good games on the road shooting the ball, but this game was different. They were 59% from the field overall and 46% from the three point line. BYU still continues to turn the ball over at a high rate. They had 14 turnovers total, thats still too much if BYU is going to compete in the Big 12.
Game Preview vs Cincinnati
BYU comes home this weekend to start at 2 game home trip. They play Cincinnati first on Saturday at 8pm MT on ESPN2. Cincy has been an interesting team this year. They were ranked to start the season at #16 and had very high hopes. Some early losses have started to spiral their season. They suffered losses to Villanova and then Kansas St early in Big 12 play. Then Kansas, Arizona, and Baylor beat them, and most recently, Texas Tech beat them last night. They sit at 2-5 in Big 12 play.
BYU hasnt played Kansas, or Arizona, or Baylor yet, so maybe we can cut them some slack, but Cincy hasnt done well or lived up to their expectations. But they are still a very good team.
What has doomed them a little this year is their offense. They dont rank very well offensively and are second to last in the Big 12 in points per game. With this game being on the road, I hope that BYU can continue to disrupt Cincy and keep them on their toes with their defense. That will be a big thing to watch this game.
Guys to Watch
Similar to BYU, Cincy has a good handful of guys who can score for them and are good players. Maybe their best player is Dillon Mitchell. He is averaging 11 points and 7 rebounds. Hes a forward who shoots the ball well. Most of his shots came inside the paint. I am sure he will be a big focus for BYU when they play zone to make sure they always know where he is around the basket.
Another guy to look out for is Simas Lukosius. He is a 6’8 guard, similar to Demin. Lukosius is averaging 12 points a game and shoots lights out. He is shooting at about 37% from 3 and will usually take about 4-6 a game. He can get going really quick so BYU has to force him to take tough shots and run him off the three point line.
Prediction
BYU is home for this game. I dont know how much Cincy will score as they are on the road for this game in a hostile environment. BYU has to play good defense though as Cincy can get hot very quick. ESPN Analytics gives BYU a 64.2% chance to win the game. I think thats a pretty good pick. I say BYU wins by 7, 77-70.
Game Preview vs Baylor
BYU concludes their 2 game home stand against Baylor on Tuesday night at 7pm MT on ESPN2. Baylor is not the Baylor of old this year. They have struggled too. Baylor was also ranked, just like Cincinnati, to start the year, at #8. But non conference losses to Gonzaga, UConn, Tennessee and conference losses to Iowa St, Arizona, and TCU have brought them fairly low in the rankings. All of those teams are pretty good with the exception of Arizona and TCU. Those teams arent ranked a little bit of a head scratching loss.
What Baylor struggles to do is defend the 3 point line. They are dead last in the Big 12 in opponent 3 point field goal percentage. That could play right into BYUs hands. Baylor also averages the second most turnovers in the Big 12 at just about 15 turnovers a game. That is really bad. BYU isnt great at forcing turnovers, but that will also be something to watch this game. Whoever wins the turnover battle could really show who wins this game as both teams are pretty turnover prone.
Guys to Watch
Baylor’s best player is Norchad Omier. He is a 6’7 forward with a long arms and a big body. He is averaging 16 points a game and 10 rebounds a game. It will be a very interesting matchup against Keita is who also a similar build. But BYU has to stop him. He is a force inside and quick and strong. BYUs zone could help defending him, but they will have to make sure to communicate to watch and defend him.
The other guy to watch is Freshman VJ Endgecombe. He is a very long and lenky guy, but plays very well. He can shoot the 3 every now and then but he makes his living driving the ball and pulling up. I dont think BYU will be able to guard him 1 on 1 so I imagine they will play a lot of defense to help defend both of these guys who are freak athletes.
Prediction
This game is going to be tough for BYU. Baylor has some great athletes and guys who can really score. I want to watch how well BYU shoots the 3 and who has the least amount of turnovers. With this game being at home, I think BYU squeaks by. ESPN Analytics also agrees, as they favor BYU to win this game only by 51.8%. This will be a fun back and forth game and BYUs defense will be tested, but the environment will make the difference in this game.
