Mark Pope is enjoying some lofty momentum in pre-conference games.
The BYU basketball coach expected some of it: The barrage of 3-pointers, a team enjoying elite chemistry and sharing of the ball and the benefit of playing a lot of games at home where shooting trends are naturally padded.
BYU is the national leader in a myriad of statistics so far this season, including scoring margin, 3-pointers made per game and assist to turnover margin. The Cougars are No. 2 nationally in 3-pointers attempted per game and rebounding margin.
These are all impressive accomplishments in 12 games heading to Saturday’s contest with Wyoming in the Marriott Center.
Then basketball Armageddon begins in Big 12 play.
How will Big 12 play impact BYU’s national trends?
Well, it will take a hit.
But how much so?
You can count on the road trips to take a toll on BYU’s offense and defense. There will be tough, highly charged, competitive road games where the Cougars will take on the country’s top basketball programs.
Shooting droughts will occur, there will be off nights on both ends of the court and games will be lost because of simple things like free throws and turnovers.
This league will be a buzzsaw.
And it will be fun.
The Cougars will likely get a share of nice, emotional, big-time wins at the Marriott Center.
Right now Kansas is ranked No. 2 by The Associated Press and Houston is No. 3. Oklahoma is ranked No. 12 followed by BYU at No. 14, Baylor at No. 17 and Texas is No. 21.
If you like the algorithms, KenPom ranks Houston No. 1 and BYU No. 4 as of Wednesday. The NCAA’s NET rankings have Houston No. 1, BYU No. 3 and Iowa State No. 5.
But as this last week of nonleague competition winds down, here’s a look at Big 12 basketball statistics in nonleague play. Most all of the league has enjoyed light competition and a lot of home-court games where shots fall and fans buoy everyone up.
Some schedules are tougher than others, but they are all created to get momentum and wins before Big 12 play.
BYU leads the Big 12 in rebound margin (13.7) over Cincinnati (13.1) and Oklahoma (9.7) with Houston (8.5) and TCU (8.0) rounding out the top five.
The Cougars lead the league in defensive rebounding despite missing their best rebounder in Fouss Traore for most of December. BYU leads this category at 30.4 defensive rebounds per game, just ahead of Kansas at 30.0.
The Cougars lead the league in assists to turnover margin ratio at an impressive 2.26, followed by Iowa State at 1.72 Kansas at 1.71 and Cincinnati’s 1.64.
A product of BYU’s chemistry built on that summer trip to Italy and Croatia, the Cougars lead the league in assists with a team average per game of 22.42, just ahead of perennial powerhouse Kansas at 21.42 and TCU at 19.33.
Remember, last year BYU ranked 309th in the NCAA in turnover rate and stands No. 1 today. That is a remarkable reversal in just one season.
BYU’s surprising dominance in 11 wins has been in shooting categories.
BYU leads Big 12 teams in 3-pointers made per game at 12.8, ahead of Baylor and Oklahoma State at 9.6. That is a remarkable production brought on by the emphasis by Pope of greenlighting his shooters from beyond the arc.
BYU is No. 4 in the league in 3-point shooting percent at .376 with Baylor leading everyone at .447, followed by Kansas at .385. But there’s a caveat to this number. BYU has attempted 150 more 3-pointers than Baylor and 196 more than Kansas. BYU has made 153 compared to Baylor’s 110 and Kansas’s 81.
Shoot more, miss more. But make more, too, does BYU.
Surprisingly, BYU leads the Big 12 in preseason games in defending the 3-pointer. Opponents are shooting .249 against BYU and that’s good for No. 1 ahead of Oklahoma (.241), Houston (.271) and Kansas (.309).
The Cougars are No. 3 in the league in defense allowing opponents 61 points per game. The leader is Houston at 50.0 and when the Cougars play on the road at Houston, don’t be surprised if those Cougars swarm and stymie BYU in a big way with speed and athleticism.
BYU leads the conference and nation in scoring margin at 29.1 points per game. Iowa State is close behind at 28.2, followed by Houston at 25.5, and Oklahoma’s 19.9.
The two categories where BYU has been extremely impressive against their nonleague foes is offensive scoring at 90.1 per game, which is good for No. 1 in the league. The other is rebounds where the Cougars are No. 1 in the Big 12 with 44.3 per game, just ahead of Cincinnati at 43.4 and Houston’s 40.2.
These numbers are all pretty eye-popping for Pope’s team as this final week of “free play” winds down, a calm before the storm of sorts.
Pope will take them.
He knows what he’s got and what’s coming. It will be fun to see how things balance out in the coming weeks as BYU faces the best the NCAA has to offer, many times in the same week.