How can BYU look so good and so bad in a span of two games? Well that is the life in the Big 12, playing on the road, and being on the road for 5 straight days.
Game Recap vs West Virginia
#22 BYU played West Virginia in Morgantown. BYU came out on top 86-73, thanks to a great defensive showing. BYU shot 49% from the field overall, and 36% from 3, but they kept West Virginia to 42% overall shooting and 29% from 3. It was also the first game in the Big 12 that BYU didn’t have double digit turnovers, with only 8 total.
Aly Khalifa didn’t make the trip with the Cougars because he was sick. So I was a little concerned about how BYU’s offense would be. Well, they played great. Fouss started in Khalifa’s place and he led the team in scoring with 24 points. Saunders also had 17, Johnson had 15, and Robinson had 12. Fouss could not be stopped. He was dominant inside and the Mountaineers did not have an answer for him. Dallin Hall also set a career high in assists in a game with 12 assists. He had 12 assists and 1 turnover. That’s a career game right there.
Game Recap vs Oklahoma
BYU looked really good against West Virginia and it looked like they were heading in the right direction. But this game against Oklahoma stopped all momentum. Khalifa again didn’t play against Oklahoma because he was sick. This game was basically a toss up. Oklahoma was favored by 2 but ended winning the game 82-66.
BYU’s offense was bad. They looked tired and out of place. BYU missed FTs and a ton of layups and easy baskets. They also didnt shoot great from 3. After the West Virginia game, BYU traveled straight to Oklahoma, so it was 5 straight days on the road, which is brutal. BYU shot 36% overall and 31% from 3. That percentage from 2 point field goals is not high enough at all.
BYU lost this game because they didn’t give enough effort and couldn’t make shots. BYU only had 2 less rebounds, same number of assists, both teams had 8 turnovers, and fouls were relatively the same. But Oklahoma shot 49% overall and 35% from 3. So compare that to BYU’s 36% and 31% and thats the difference. That happens on the second game of a 5 game road trip and on the road in the best basketball conference.
I didn’t expect BYU to win this game, so I am not totally bummed about it. These games happen. It was just one of those games. They happen on the road. Fouss led the team in scoring again, with 21. Hall had 17, and Johnson had 10. Now it is time to move on to the next game.
Game Preview vs Kansas St
BYU comes home to take on Kansas St on Saturday at 8pm on ESPN2. Kansas St is a mixed bag right now and kind of hard to read. They just beat Kansas, at home, in overtime. They have also beaten Baylor. But they have lost to Oklahoma St and Oklahoma. They dont shoot the ball very well from the 3 point line, only 31% overall, but they are a good FT shooting team. They do have a lot of turnovers most games.
Aside from having a great coach in Jerome Tang, they are a three headed monster. Cam Carter, G, leads the team in scoring with 16 points a game. He’s a good all around player and shoots about 33% from 3. He likes to drive the ball but can shoot the 3 time to time.
Tylor Perry, G, is second on the team in scoring with 15 points per game. He also averages 5 assists per game. Perry is basically automatic from the FT line at 90% and shoots 33% from 3. He likes to shoot the 3 but doesnt always make it.
The last main star is Arthur Kaluma, F. He is about 6’7 but is third on the team in scoring with 14 points per game. Kaluma also averages 7 rebounds per game. He is more of a stretch forward and shoots the best percentage from 3 on the team at 36%. He is athletic and likes to rebound the ball too.
Prediction
BYU has a good shot in this game, I think, especially being at home. Kansas St turns the ball over a lot. If BYU can capitalize on those turnovers and turn them into points and shoot a high percentage from 3, they should win this game. ESPN Analytics gives BYU a 86% chance to win. If BYU doesn’t have Khalifa, I could see this game being closer than what ESPN Analytics says. Still, I think BYU wins by 6.
Game Preview vs UCF
BYU played UCF earlier in the season, in Orlando, and came away with a win, 63-58. In that game, Fouss only played 7 minutes because of his hamstring and Khalifa led the team in scoring with 17 points. Itll be interesting to see if Khalifa plays. He should be good to go by Tuesday, but we will see!
In that game in Orlando, UCF shot 29% overall and 17% from 3. I would expect UCF to shoot better this game, but I also expect BYU to shoot and play better. BYU shot 40% overall and 35% from 3. BYU also had 13 turnovers. I expect Hall, Fouss, and Robinson to score more and shoot better for this game.
UCF Player Breakdown
UCF plays with their own twin towers so to speak. Diallo, who had 19 rebounds against BYU last game, is 7 feet. Omar Payne is 6’10 and is more of a scoring guy. But UCF does play these guys together at times and are hard to stop. In UCF’s last game, they beat Oklahoma, so this game will be tough.
Jaylin Sellers is their main guy. He is averaging 17 points a game. Sellers doesn’t make a ton of 3s, but will hit the occasional one. He is mainly a driver/draw the foul type of player.
Darius Johnson is another player. He likes to shoot 3s, and is pretty good, at 38% this year. He is averaging 13 points per game and also has 4 assists per game. In his last game, Johnson had 8 assists.
The last guy who has started to emerge lately is Shemarri Allen. He is more of their defensive player. Allen is a good rebounder for a guard and plays excellent defense. He had 8 rebounds last game against Oklahoma.
Prediction
UCF has been hard to predict, just like Kansas St. They have beaten Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, but have lost to Cincinnati and Kansas St. UCF has a tough test against Texas Tech on Saturday before traveling to Provo on Tuesday. That means that they will be on the road for 5 days with a second game in elevation, in Utah. ESPN Analytics currently gives BYU an 88% chance to win. I expect BYU to win by 8 points.
BYU Football National Signing Day
Today is National Signing Day for College Football. BYU picked up a huge commitment from 4 star linebacker Naki Tuakoi out of Oakland, CA, yesterday. He was committed to Stanford, previously, but backed out of that commitment and BYU swooped in. He’s a big get and this defensive recruiting class just keeps getting better and better.
BYU is now ranked 44th in the country in their freshman composite recruiting class. Thats pretty good for a team entering just their second year in the Big 12 and P5 conference. Its also good for 5th in the Big 12 for recruits. The 4 teams ahead of BYU are #1 Texas Tech, #2 TCU, #3 UCF, and #4 Kansas. Again, these are just recruits and NOT the overall ranking or taking into account transfer rankings.
Overall, BYU is 11th out of 16 teams. Their transfer ranking is hurting them, but thats not a huge deal for a team that is trying to build some stability and depth for a P5 Conference and in the Big 12. Better to get good recruits in my opinion and start your team young and build and grow them. You can check out all of BYU’s recruits and rankings so far, here.
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