After losing a highly contested game at Utah, BYU has a chance to remain undefeated the rest of the way with a series of home games before meeting Cincinnati in Provo to begin Big 12 play. Will Mark Pope’s team be able to do that? Yes. We’ve seen enough to predict that that should be the case.
The road, however, is a different story. BYU won’t play away from the Marriott Center until mid-January and this team will need to toughen up and play far better than witnessed at Utah.
Here’s a rundown of our stories about that first road loss:
- Pope encouraged after loss (Jay Drew)
- Utah forces BYU out of comfort zone (Jay Drew)
- Utah shows BYU what road is like when 3s don’t fall (Dick Harmon)
- How rankings were impacted with game (Brandon Judd)
Cougar Insiders predictions
Question of the week: What did we learn from BYU’s first loss, a road game at rival Utah?
Jay Drew: The Cougars were brought down to earth a little bit throughout the Utah game, but especially in the first half. This team probably wasn’t as good as most people, including themselves, thought they were. And when the 3-point shots aren’t falling, and they don’t have arguably their best player (Fouss Traore), they are closer to ordinary than elite.
Don’t get me wrong: BYU is much better than I thought it was going to be. Having covered the Utes the last three seasons and watched the development of Branden Carlson and others, I would have predicted a double-digit Utah win before the season began.
I also think BYU showed some resiliency in the loss, rallying back from a 16-point deficit to make it a nail-biter in the final minutes. That should help the Cougars moving forward, especially in the Big 12.
That said, I think we also learned that BYU doesn’t have a true go-to guy down the stretch, a guy who can get them a bucket when it absolutely has to have one. Maybe Jaxson Robinson is that guy. I found it kinda curious that Pope put the ball in the hands of Dallin Hall with nine seconds left.
Maybe next time Robinson will get that honor.
Dick Harmon: Losing to a rival on the road, when the opponent is very good, isn’t a huge bump, as evidenced by BYU only slightly dropping in its NET top-five ranking after the loss to Utah. I thought this was a great learning experience for Pope’s squad. Making free throws is important. Slow starts can be deadly.
I think BYU remains a surprise team in the Big 12 and fortunes will only improve once Fouss Traore returns to the lineup. In the loss to Utah, BYU could have really used Traore. Dawson Baker’s elite mid-range shooting ability would also have made a difference and will in the future.
Credit is due to Utah. This was a big win for the Utes and they own bragging rights for another year. But if you break down the game, there were positives for BYU, including owning the second half by 10 points, wins in bench points, points off turnovers, turnover margin, steals, rebounds and points off second-chance points. If Pope’s team had shot better from the free-throw line, the outcome would have been different.
I think the great lessons from this first loss are the urgency to start fast, the importance of making free throws, and how to keep composure early on the road. All will be absolute necessities in the Big 12.
Cougar tales
Head football coach Kalani Sitake replaced offensive line coach Darrell Funk with veteran OL coach TJ Woods from Georgia Southern, a coach who’d been at Wisconsin, Oregon State, Utah State and other stops.
BYU received a commitment from a top offensive line prep player from California.
From the archives
From the X-verse
- Lunardi has BYU No. 4 seed (@Mitch_Harper)
- BYU bench scoring is elite (@ryanhammer09)
- Lofty rankings for BYU hoops (@gregwrubell)
Extra points
- Most memorable Big 12 moments (Deseret News)
- 3 Big 12 teams suffer first losses (KSL Sports)
- Zach Wilson throws for over 300 in win (KSL Sports)
Fanalyst
Comments from Deseret News readers:
Per KenPom, Utah is ranked No. 37 and BYU No 8. Per NET rankings, Utah is No. 32 and BYU. No. 3. In RPI, Utah is No. 17 and BYU No. 24. In other words, both teams are doing just fine and it was a great game and a great win for Utah.
— Spokane Ute
Keys to the game were 7 of 30 from 3, 10 of 18 for FT and mismatch defense in the first half giving up multiple points in the paint. Waterman’s 0 of 7 was a killer.
However, a close quad 1 loss on the road to your rival is not a huge deal but it will sting for awhile.
— Wallyball
This is the same team as last year. We are no different. We are not that good. We won’t dance this year either. When we finally played a real road game, we got totally exposed by a very mediocre Utes team. I mean really — the Utes played out of their heads and won by four.
Just wait till the real teams in the Big 12 come to play. And we think our home court will carry us? We maybe get one lucky road win and we lose one-third of our home games.
This is what happens when you have no big men (Khalifa is always at the top of the key), live only by 3s, make 50% of our free throws, and continue to come out flat GAME AFTER GAME. It’s like Kalani is coaching bball, too.
“They are who we said they were.”
— FatThor
Up next
- Dec. 13 | 7 p.m. | Men’s basketball | University of Denver | @ Provo
- Dec. 16 | 2 p.m. | Women’s basketball | Idaho State | @ Provo
- Dec. 16 | 7 p.m. | Men’s basketball | Georgia State | Lady Bear Classic | @ Provo
- Dec. 20 | 1:30 pm. | Women’s basketball | Missouri State | @ Springfield, Missouri
- Dec. 21 | 11 a.m. | Women’s basketball | University of Nevada | Lady Bear Classic | @ Springfield, Missouri
