BYU’s first foray into the nation’s top college basketball league ended in an unexpected place in the upper echelon of the Big 12.
Picked by the league’s coaches to finish 13th, the Cougars earned the No. 5 seed and a first-round bye in the league tournament in Kansas City after beating Oklahoma State 85-71 Saturday night in the Marriott Center.
How successful was this Big 12 run?
BYU tied preseason No. 1 Kansas in the league standings.
The Cougars won four of their last six, including wins over No. 7 Kansas and No. 11 Baylor, and they had No. 6 Iowa State on the ropes in Ames until the final minute after leading by 14 in the second half.
Do they belong?
They’re comfortably perched in the clubhouse.
And it could have been better had the Cougars not lost leads to Iowa State and No. 1 Houston. Or misfired in a loss to Cincinnati in the league opener at home. Or lost a 17-point lead at Texas Tech. Or failed to show up in a loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, the worst game of the season.
BYU, now 22-9 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12, will play the winner of West Virginia and Oklahoma State in Wednesday’s second round. The Cougars are playing with house money in Kansas City because they are a lock for a No. 5 or 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
A win or two in Kansas City could move the Cougars to a No. 4 seed and a game in Salt Lake City.
“We’re just very grateful,” head coach Mark Pope told reporters after Saturday’s game. “Every team in this league has a chance to win on any given night. It’s impossible to predict where teams will finish in this league.”
So, what did Saturday’s win tell folks about this BYU team heading into the postseason?
Well, Pope used the same recipe we’ve seen all season, feasting on the 3-point shot.
BYU exploded for 53 second-half points to build up a 25-point lead on OSU at 62-37 with 10 minutes to play in the game. It was vintage BYU during a 28-point scoring binge in just 11 minutes.
BYU made three treys in the first half, then went 8 of 12 in the second half from beyond the arc.
In that span, Spencer Johnson and Trevin Knell each had two treys and Aly Khalifa, Richie Saunders and Jaxson Robinson all buried one from beyond the arc.
When the Cougars do this, they are hard to beat. When they miss shots like this, they are capable of losing to any team in the Big 12.
But, as it stood, BYU made 8 of 12 in the second half versus OSU and finished 12 of 31 for 38% from distance. No team this season has made more than 10 3-pointers on OSU.
Again, this is the secret sauce. Just how Pope drew it up last summer.
Then again, the Cougars showed, even in this final victory, just how they can give it away as they did at Iowa State last Wednesday.
After that huge lead, OSU cut its deficit to as little as 10 with just over six minutes to play.
The OSU win was a farewell for the oldest player in the NCAA, Johnson. His performance, a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, was symbolic of BYU in the Big 12.
Johnson played his butt off. He was intense, pesky and got in the heads of OSU players. He was sticky on defense and was a madman crashing the boards.
Johnson looks like a wiry accountant, but underestimating him is a big mistake.
OSU’s freshman, Brandon Garrison, a high school McDonald’s All-American, was whistled for a pair of fouls, one of them flagrant, when he shoved Johnson in frustration with 5:29 and 3:59 left in the game.
His teammate Mike Marsh then took up the role, setting a screen like an offensive lineman, knocking Johnson on his keister with two minutes to play in the game.
Johnson simply made the free throws, kept rebounding and stuck his grill in as much action as possible.
He epitomizes what it takes to play on Pope’s team this year. In his senior night game, he left nothing on the floor.