BYU’s 83-55 win over Life Pacific in a college basketball exhibition game Wednesday night featured a little bit of everything at the Marriott Center.
There was some sheer sloppiness from the Cougars, mixed in with a few brilliant plays, and a lot of hustle from the visitors, an NAIA school from San Dimas, California.
Jaxson Robinson came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points for BYU, making 6 of 9 3-point attempts. Spencer Johnson added 18 points and Noah Waterman led all rebounders with eight.
The real stuff starts on Monday, when BYU will play host to Houston Christian in its season-opener, but a crowd of 13,733 for an exhibition game with BYU’s first game with Big 12 logos on the Marriott Center floor was quite impressive.
A week from Friday, San Diego State makes a visit, after having played in the NCAA Tournament championship game last April.
Pacific Life lost 96-64 to Cal State Fullerton last Saturday, if comparative scores mean anything. The Cougars led 83-51 before Pacific Life scored the game’s final four points.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
• With sophomore point guard Dallin Hall and UC Irvine transfer Dawson Baker watching in street clothes from the bench, coach Mark Pope went with Noah Waterman, Spencer Johnson, Trevin Knell, Fouss Traore and Trey Stewart as his starters.
Charlotte transfer Aly Khalifa, Richie Saunders and Jaxson Robinson were the first three off the bench, and Robinson played with some fire, hitting his first three 3-point attempts.
Khalifa scored just one point and grabbed just two rebounds in his first game in Provo in 16 minutes. He looked tired at times and seemed to struggle catching his breath in the high altitude.
• Which player will lead the Cougars in scoring this year, and where will the bulk of the offense come from? Some answers to those questions came Wednesday, as Johnson went 6 of 10 from the field and also dished out five assists. He played under control and was a calming presence on the court, as usual. Having missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, Trevin Knell showed some glimpses of his old self, draining a couple 3-pointers and finish with six points in 27 minutes. The Cougars will need more out of the veteran sharpshooter in Big 12 play.
The same applies to Stewart, who played 24 minutes and didn’t score.
Waterman was said to be much-improved this season, and he did show signs of that, particularly on the glass, where the 6-11 transfer from Detroit Mercy collected eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
One of the biggest surprises was Townsend Tripple, the walk-on returned missionary from Idaho who had seven points, all in the second half, in 11 minutes.
• The Cougars weren’t overly impressive, but credit Life Pacific for mucking it up and getting hot from 3-point range after a frosty start. BYU’s defense left a little to be desired, especially early when Austin Cook got cooking for 14 first-half points. The coach’s son didn’t score in the final 20 minutes.
Ten turnovers seemed high for BYU, given the competition. Taking care of the ball will be at a premium against the Big 12’s quality teams.
So will 3-point shooting, as Pope has said repeatedly throughout the offseason. BYU went 11 of 33 (33.3%) which probably needs to improve, especially at home.