A couple of the high-flying BYU men’s basketball team’s weaknesses were exposed a little bit by the Utah Runnin’ Utes in last Saturday’s 73-69 loss at the sold-out Huntsman Center.
While playing without star post player Fousseyni Traore for the third straight game, the now-No. 18 Cougars struggled to find a reliable scoring option when the Utes were going through an eight-minute field goal drought themselves, and BYU’s comeback fell a few points short.
“The way we are going to have a chance to win is as us. That is the most important thing. We are great with us. We are great with go-to guys that are playmakers. We are great with guys that can finish plays. We are not going to be a team that is like, ‘Hey, let’s put it in his hands and let him go to work.’” — BYU coach Mark Pope
Observers wondered who would carry the scoring load for the Cougars in 2023-24, who would be the go-to guy in coach Mark Pope’s attack, and while it appeared that Jaxson Robinson was ready and able to step into that role through the first eight games, that wasn’t the case against Utah.
But Pope said after the game that the Cougars (8-1) can win without a big star if they get back to playing together, something they failed to do in big stretches last Saturday.
“Yeah I think we have a bunch of guys that we can go to, actually. I think we do. But this is going to be an ‘us’ deal all year long, guys,” Pope said. “Like, this is an ‘us’ deal. … The way we are going to have a chance to win is as us. That is the most important thing. We are great with us. We are great with go-to guys that are playmakers. We are great with guys that can finish plays. We are not going to be a team that is like, ‘hey, let’s put it in his hands and let him go to work.’”
BYU, which is now No. 3 in the NET rankings, will try to bounce back from its first loss on Wednesday when the 6-4 Denver Pioneers visit the Marriott Center (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Denver has a go-to guy, as fifth-year senior Tommy Bruner averages 24.0 points per game, third-best in the nation. The 6-foot-1 guard from Columbia, South Carolina, who has also played at USC Upstate and Jacksonville, had 28 points in Denver’s near-upset of nationally ranked Colorado State last week.
Denver led 39-35 at halftime before the Rams won 90-80 at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. Denver had won four straight before the loss, including a 67-65 victory at Idaho.
The Pioneers will bring a Utah flair, with 6-5 guard Jaxon Brenchley and 6-6 junior guard Tyson Garff. Brenchley prepped at Mountain Crest High in Providence and spent the last four seasons with the Runnin’ Utes. He’s averaging 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for Denver.
Garff prepped at Davis High in Kaysville and played two seasons at Salt Lake Community College. He’s appeared in all 10 games but is averaging just 7.6 minutes and has scored just five points.
The 6-foot-7 Robinson leads BYU in scoring with a 16.9 average, despite having not started in any of the Cougars’ nine games.
Traore was averaging 10.2 points before his injury, and it appears the junior from Mali will again be sidelined this week with a tricky hamstring that has nagged him for several years now.
BYU should be OK without its best post player the next four games, but when Big 12 play begins Jan. 6 against Cincinnati, he will surely be needed.
Speaking of which, national pundits are growing increasingly more bullish on BYU’s prospects in the Big 12, despite the loss to Utah.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has BYU as a No. 4 seed in his latest Bracketology projections, while a Las Vegas oddsmaker (betonline.com) has BYU finishing fifth in the league now, behind Kansas, Houston, Baylor and Texas.
