We don’t have a lot of time. But the history with this group so far is they’ve bounced back pretty well. This will be tough. We had a nice roll, and this is a setback we have to overcome. There are a lot of games to play. – BYU coach Dave Rose
PROVO — Just as BYU was cruising along with a three-game winning streak and phenomenal scoring production, it all came to a screeching halt Thursday night at the Marriott Center.
The Cougars fell to Pepperdine, 67-61, to drop to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in the West Coast Conference.
BYU shot an anemic 23 percent from 3-point range, including 1 of 12 in the second half, against the Waves.
It was a stark contrast to what happened last weekend at Santa Clara and San Francisco, where the Cougars exploded offensively and won easily.
At USF, for example, the Cougars shot 60 percent overall from the field and 54 percent from 3-point territory.
Consider that BYU scored 57 points in the first half against the Dons — and yet it scored a total of 61 points in the entire game against Pepperdine.
Thursday’s loss was a huge blow to the Cougars’ NCAA tournament at-large hopes.
So can BYU bounce back Saturday (7 p.m. MST, BYUtv) when it hosts Loyola Marymount?
“We’ll see. We don’t have a lot of time,” said coach Dave Rose. “But the history with this group so far is they’ve bounced back pretty well. This will be tough. We had a nice roll, and this is a setback we have to overcome. There are a lot of games to play.”
The Cougars have responded positively after losses to San Diego State, Purdue, Utah and Gonzaga. BYU is led by a group of seniors who have dealt with disappointing setbacks this year, and in previous years.
Senior Tyler Haws scored a game-high 26 points and grabbed six rebounds against Pepperdine while senior Anson Winder chipped in 16 to go along with five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Kyle Collinsworth, who recorded his third triple-double of the season against San Francisco, was battling a flu bug against Pepperdine. He finished with four points on 1 of 8 shooting from the field.
Loyola Marymount (4-12, 0-4) is under the direction of first-year coach Mike Dunlap, an LMU alum who spent the past 30 seasons coaching in the National Basketball Association and with a variety of college teams.
Dunlap was the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012-13, when he become the first coach in NBA history to win three times as many games as the previous season. Dunlap also coached with the Denver Nuggets and was the top assistant at Arizona, Oregon and St. Johns, and won two NCAA Division II national championships at Metropolitan State College in Denver.
The Lions have struggled, and are looking for their first conference victory of the season. LMU lost Thursday night at San Diego, 59-50.
Sophomore guard Evan Payne, who averages 20 points per game, leads the Lions in scoring.