Defense keys BYU coach Mark Pope’s official debut as Cougars’ head coach

PROVO — Mark Pope’s second debut as a head coach went far better than his first.

Newly-hired as Utah Valley University’s head coach back in 2015, Pope had a rude introduction to his new gig, losing his first-ever game to BYU 85-54 at the Marriott Center. Fast forward four years later, with Pope now coaching for BYU, and the result was a 76-58 win over Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, which left the new Cougar coach smiling in postgame and understandably a bit relieved.

“I’m really happy,” Pope said. “My first debut at my last school (UVU) didn’t go so well, and it actually happened in the same gym — the outcome wasn’t as good for me. So I’m really happy and I’m mostly happy for (my players).”

Adding considerably to Pope’s happiness was the Cougars’ strong defensive effort, an aspect recent BYU teams have generally lacked. In five of the past six years, the Cougars have given up over 70 points per game, which made the 58 points allowed to the Titans a promising start, not to mention the 24 points allowed in the first half of play.

Indeed, the Cougars separated themselves in large part due to a key defensive stretch to end the second half, which saw the Titans manage just two points in a seven and a half minute stretch. Pope’s team used that defensive pressure to turn a slim 19-17 lead into a comfortable 31-19 margin right before the end of the first half.

“We keep teams under 30 points and we’re feeling really good about our effort,” Pope said of his team’s defense in the first half, which led to a 38-24 halftime lead. “We were really solid (rebounding) ... and we were really solid in transition except for a couple of occasions.”

For the game, BYU limited the Titans to just 36.8% shooting from the field which included a paltry 32.1 clip in the first half while focused on taking away key aspects of their offensive attack, according to Pope.

As a senior, BYU guard TJ Haws has been part of several Cougar teams somewhat lacking in solid defensive play and was subsequently pleased with what his team showed in Tuesday’s win.

“Our energy is really great and we really pride ourselves defensively,” Haws said. “We’ve been working on our defense since May and working on our footwork every single day, and guys just trust in what we’ve worked on.”

Of course one game of great defense is far from a rule of what this BYU team will provide night in and night out, with much tougher opponents soon on the horizon. But players are optimistic of the work put in and believe the best Cougar defense is yet to come.

“I feel like our chemistry ... is really good right now and I think that’s going to continue to get better as our games go on,” Haws concluded.

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