BYU flexed its muscles, pounded the glass, and clamped down defensively this weekend in northern California.
And as a result, the Cougars captured an impressive Bay Area road sweep.
In Thursday’s win over Saint Mary’s and Saturday’s 72-63 victory at War Memorial Gym, BYU followed a similar script. In both wins over the Gaels and the Dons, the Cougars overcame eight-point, second-half deficits and pulled away late.
“You look at the schedule and you recognize how hard these two games are. Mind you, with our team last year, we lost both of these games. So that gives you a sense of how hard these games are,” coach Mark Pope told the BYU Sports Network. “And these guys do them in a span of (48) hours. Both games are wildly frustrating for us in the first halves. It’s been a ‘toughness’ weekend. I’m telling you, if we can put together, where these guys are just this tough and their resolve is this sure, and they’re able to manage frustration in a focused way, it bodes well for the possibilities with the team because we will keep getting better.”
While USF likes to attack from the 3-point line, BYU likes to control the game inside. The Cougars’ size and strength proved too much for San Francisco.
BYU (11-3, 2-1 West Coast Conference) outscored USF in the paint 40-18 after outscoring Saint Mary’s 44-24 in the paint on Thursday. The Cougars also outrebounded the Dons 45-28.
Against USF (9-7, 3-3 WCC), forward Richard Harward was a catalyst, recording a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, including five offensive boards — in just 18 minutes of play.
Harward had 11 of those points in the second half and during a crucial stretch, he scored eight straight points, including a pair of put-back dunks, that helped the Cougars pull away from San Francisco.
“He’s such a team player. The character, the energy, the enthusiasm that he brings to our team is just on another level,” said senior guard Alex Barcello, who scored a team-high 19, including 17 in the second half, and logged BYU’s final 10 points, all from the free-throw line. “I think it really shows every game as we’ve been progressing throughout the season and I think it will continue to show.”
“Rich was so good in all of his minutes, coming up with an incredibly physical and emotional double-double,” Pope said.
BYU trailed by eight points, 36-28, early in the second half after back-to-back 3-pointers by USF. The Cougars roared back, and led by as many as 17 points, 68-51, with 1:13 remaining.
Meanwhile, USF’s resident Cougar killer, Khalil Shabazz, drilled four 3-pointers in the final minute and he finished with a game-high 30 points. He poured in a career-high 32 against BYU last year at San Francisco. Saturday, he hit a total of eight 3-pointers.
But by the time Shabazz heated up in the closing moments of the game, the Cougars were already in complete control.
“We did an unbelievable job guarding the 3-point line in the second half until the last two minutes and we lost focus a little bit there,” Pope said.
Coming off an inspiring win at Saint Mary’s — BYU’s first win in Moraga in seven years — the Cougars struggled at times in the first half Saturday.
BYU opened with a 7-2 lead but USF responded with an 11-2 spurt to grab a 13-9 advantage. During that span, the Cougars were sloppy, giving up several turnovers, and missing shots.
The Cougars went five minutes without scoring and found themselves down by as many as 10 points, 21-11.
But BYU eventually recalibrated late in the half with a 12-3 run. Both Caleb Lohner and Gideon George made a big impact off the bench.
George knocked down shots, including a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the first half, drew a charge, and had a pair of blocks. Lohner also hit a 3 and collected rebounds. BYU trailed at halftime, 27-26.
“We walked into halftime feeling like we were trying to guard an explosive offensive team. We had just endured a first half where it was all frustrating,” Pope said. “We found a way to wrap it up in the last five minutes where it was still a reasonable game. That made me good going into halftime, like, okay, these guys have a boatload of toughness left in them. Let’s see what happens in the second half.”
The Cougars retook the lead in the opening minutes of the second half on a Matt Haarms hook shot, 28-27, before USF hit those three consecutive aforementioned 3s.
From there, BYU imposed its will, thanks to size advantage and its depth.
“Our depth was huge this weekend … These guys have done a great job sharing with each other and coming in waves. I think it was really hard for Saint Mary’s to manage and as the game waned on, it was hard for San Francisco to manage.” — BYU coach Mark Pope
“We punished them twice with Matt … Imagine having to deal with that, and then freaking Rich Harward is coming in like the next minute to destroy you on the glass?” Pope said. “Our depth was huge this weekend … These guys have done a great job sharing with each other and coming in waves. I think it was really hard for Saint Mary’s to manage and as the game waned on, it was hard for San Francisco to manage.”
Yes, BYU’s depth was a huge factor. Haarms finished with 11 points and seven rebounds and two blocks. George had 10 points and two blocks.
While BYU led the country in 3-point shooting last season, it made just 6 of 28 3-pointers this weekend.
This season? The Cougars don’t rely nearly as much on the 3. This team is relying on its cohesiveness and toughness.
“I’m really proud of these guys and how we fought back in both games and came out with a road sweep,” Barcello said.
“Matt Haarms gave our pregame speech today,” Pope said. “He talked about this brotherhood that these guys are working hard to develop. It certainly served us well this week.”
BYU hosts Portland Thursday.