A year ago during nonconference play, BYU lost to San Diego State, Boise State and Utah.
The Cougars had a shot to avenge all three of those losses this year. But in their first attempt, they fell 74-70 to the Broncos Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.
BYU experienced early-season struggles in those games last season, as it did this week against Boise State.
The Cougars host Utah Saturday (4 p.m. MST, BYUtv) and San Diego State on Dec. 18.
“Right now, we’re not a great team. We’re not really a very good team.” — Mark Pope
“Right now, we’re not a great team. We’re not really a very good team,” said coach Mark Pope. “We’re a team that’s playing hard and committed to work toward winning with each other. We have to improve how we play now. … We have a really tough stretch that will continue to teach us a lot with the end goal of becoming a great team.”
A day before the game, Pope said, “It’s going to be a crooked path for us this season. We’re going to have some setbacks. But I do think that we have a chance to grow into a great team by the end of the season.”
BYU began the Boise State game mired in an 8½-minute scoring drought. The Cougars trailed 14-0, and despite rallying in the second half, never held the lead.
In the first half, BYU committed 11 turnovers, had only four assists and shot 33% from the floor. In the second half, the Cougars had 10 assists and four turnovers while shooting 61%.
“That tells the story about how we play. This group is young together,” Pope said. “We just have to grow in terms of how we share and move this ball. We’ve just got to get better. It’s not going to happen overnight. But we need to make some serious progress in the next three weeks.”
Senior guard Alex Barcello, who didn’t get a shot off until there only 9 seconds were remaining in the first half — knocking down a 3-pointer — finished with 22 points.
Pope has been thrilled with Barcello’s leadership on and off the court.
“He’s been phenomenal. It started this summer, as soon as the season was over last year with him reaching out to guys and trying to put capital in the bank with individual guys and focusing on that all summer,” he said. “Not just in his teammates’ game in terms of what they do best but how he can assist them in getting better and building relationships so that when it does come time in the heat of the moment when you have to lay into somebody and there’s a little bit of disorientation or frustration, those guys will respond to him because of all the time he’s put in. His performance on the floor has been extraordinary and his performance in the locker room has been terrific.”
Teams obviously are game-planning for Barcello, who’s averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game, because it’s clear at this point, how Barcello goes, BYU goes.
“The great thing about Alex is, he’s got such a maturity about him. He approaches the game the right way. He’s not walking in with his own predetermined agenda,” Pope said. “He’s paying attention to the game. He’s going to greedily take whatever the game gives him.
“He’s prepared to have a game where he’s got 10 assists and two shots and nine rebounds,” Pope continued. “He’s mentally prepared to win that way. He’s in a good space to continue leading this team and dealing with different game plans against him.”
Barcello, who missed a chance to tie the BSU game with three seconds remaining when his 3-pointer was off the mark, isn’t concerned about his stats.
“Ball movement is the key to this team. Last year, it was guys being unselfish, throwing the ball to the open guy. It’s going to be the key this year. As soon as the ball starts sticking, which is the opposite of what coach Pope preaches, that’s when our offense goes down in the dumps.” — Matt Haarms
“They were guarding me hard in the first half. Whatever it is I need to do, I’m going to execute it,” he said. “I don’t really mind if I get five shots in the first half or zero shots in the first half. All I care about is winning.”
BYU senior Matt Haarms added 18 against Boise State but Pope wants to see the 7-foot-3 grad transfer from Purdue be more dominant.
“Matt needs to take it upon himself to get about 10 more post possessions. He just has to be more physically engaged. He put up great numbers and he had a huge impact on the game,” Pope said. “But he shouldn’t have been settling for 10. He should have been 18 for 30. A lot of that is on him, about being demanding and forceful about dominating the post. He’s going to grow there, too. This is a new role for Matt, to be a featured player. He’s got a big-time IQ and a big-time heart and a big-time commitment. He’s going to be better.”
Haarms said the Cougars are going to focus on sharing the ball.
“Ball movement is the key to this team. Last year, it was guys being unselfish, throwing the ball to the open guy,” he said. “It’s going to be the key this year. As soon as the ball starts sticking, which is the opposite of what coach Pope preaches, that’s when our offense goes down in the dumps.”
Meanwhile, free-throw shooting continues to be an issue for BYU. Against Boise State, the Cougars were just 11 of 18 from the charity stripe.
“There’s no magic pill for free throws. You step to the line, you own it and shoot it and live with it,” Pope said. “These guys are getting extra work in practice. That’s another area that we’ll continue to get better in. It was a little bit of a disappointing number for us but we’ll get better.”