Analysis: No. 17 BYU still can’t solve its Houston problem in getting bounced from the Big 12 tournament in semifinals

KANSAS CITY — After his No. 2-ranked Houston Cougars overwhelmed the No. 17 BYU Cougars 74-54 in a lopsided Big 12 tournament semifinal Friday night, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson claimed the real champion was decided by regular season play and that these conference tournament games are nothing more than exhibitions and showcases for one of the better college basketball leagues in the country.

BYU can only hope the venerable coach is right.

The blue-wearing Cougars did not make much of a case for improving their seeding in the Big Dance next week in front of a pro-BYU crowd at T-Mobile Center, starting the contest as poorly as could be imagined.

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It got a little better for coach Kevin Young’s crew as the game wore on, and there was a stretch in the second half when BYU played like it belonged, but for the most part, this was just another comeuppance issued by the Big 12 regular-season champion on its way to a No. 1 seed next week.

Houston (29-4) jumped in front 15-0, holding BYU (24-9) scoreless until Dawson Baker made a 3-point play with 13:16 remaining in the first half.

The Cougars missed their first nine shots and simply came out flat, tentative and gun-shy. That’s not a good recipe against one of the best defensive teams in the country.

“Poor start by our club,” acknowledged Young. “We came out a little flat, honestly. Not sure why in a big game like that.”

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BYU’s first half was so pathetic that an ESPN2 commentator suggested the Cougars were playing too soft and timid. From the view here, that wasn’t the case at all. The want-to and effort was there from the opening tip, but Houston is simply a nightmare matchup problem for BYU given the red team’s superior quickness and athleticism on the perimeter.

It wasn’t as lopsided as the 86-55 beatdown Houston handed BYU on Jan. 4 in the Space City, but it was close.

“Look, Houston is a really good team. They lost one game in the conference (to Texas Tech) for a reason,” Young said. “Coach Kelvin Sampson knows what he’s doing, obviously, so you have to give them all the credit. I thought our guys battled back in the second half to make a couple of runs but fell short.”

Really, really short.

Junior center Keba Keita, about the only player on BYU’s roster with the athleticism to hang with Houston, had a spectacular second half, which is something the Cougars can hang their hat on after an altogether forgettable night when a lot of the eyes of the college basketball world — and the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — were upon them.

Keita scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half and finished with a double-double, having also grabbed 12 rebounds. Trailing 41-20 at halftime, BYU used some dunks — and a couple highlight-reel blocks — from Keita to cut into Houston’s massive lead.

Richie Saunders’ breakaway dunk trimmed UH’s lead to 45-32, and the BYU crowd was close to full throat. Enter UH’s Emanuel Sharp, who sandwiched 3-pointers around a BYU turnover to end all hopes of a BYU comeback.

“We knew they were going to go on a run. We just had to survive it,” said Sharp, who had a game-high 26 points on 7 of 13 shooting and a 7 for 7 performance from the free-throw line. “We made some dumb plays, me included, at the beginning of the second half, and that’s really what it was.”

The blue Cougars made plenty of dumb mistakes and poor passes as well, leading to 13 turnovers, which Houston turned into 16 points.

BYU turned it over 15 times at Houston’s Fertitta Center two and a half months ago.

“Watching them on film, and I really hadn’t seen BYU a whole lot, but the first thing that jumped out to me was how much better — how much they had improved since January 4th,” Sampson said.

“That was a long time ago.”

Yes, BYU is better, and has found an identity that wasn’t evident at the beginning of Big 12 play, but the hunch here is that if these squads faced off 10 times on a neutral floor, Houston would win at least eight.

A night after going 18 of 36 from deep, the blue Cougars were just the opposite. Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders missed open looks to start the game, and on one possession after L.J. Cryer staked Houston to a 5-0 lead, BYU missed back-to-back open 3-pointers.

It was that kind of night for the Cougars, who finished shooting 31.7% from the field (19 of 60) and 21.4% from 3-point range (6 of 28).

The 20 points BYU scored in the first half were the lowest output in a half this season (BYU had 22 at halftime in Houston). A day after putting 23 points on shorthanded Iowa State, Saunders could only muster 10, on 3 of 9 shooting.

Houston blocked seven shots.

“The first game we played against them I thought it was all their defense,” Young said. “Tonight I felt like we got a lot of shots in the first half that we normally get that were good looks that didn’t go down.

“I don’t want to discredit Houston. They’re an amazing team, and I learned a lot from playing against them,” Young continued. “But I think it was a combination of our inability to make open shots.”

Besides Keita, Baker was the only bright spot offensively for BYU, as the junior guard scored 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting. Meanwhile, Trey Stewart was 1 of 5 (and picked up a technical foul for taunting after making his lone shot), Egor Demin was 2 of 9, Knell was 1 of 5 and Dallin Hall was 0 of 3.

“I know we’re undressing this game, but for me, I am just excited for our group to win nine out of 10 and play the way we’ve played. It gives us a lot of momentum going into the NCAA Tournament. So credit Houston for playing well, and we move on.”

—  BYU basketball coach Kevin Young

That’s 7 of 31 shooting from perimeter players not named Baker.

In the frontcourt, Mawot Mag was 0 of 3 and Fouss Traore was 2 of 5. Traore usually dominates inside, but UH neutralized him with its height and athleticism, even without all-league forward J’Wan Roberts — who was out with a right ankle sprain.

Baker said despite the rough night in which the Cougars’ nine-game winning streak was snapped, the loss, and the way it was absorbed, will do nothing to nick BYU’s confidence moving forward.

“We’ve got great shooters on this team, and more than great shooters, we’ve got great competitors,” Baker said. “You know, I think they will eventually get their minds in the right place to make those shots.”

The key might be to forget the first half — BYU was 6 of 30 in the first 20 minutes — and focus on the things that went well in the second half, such as Keita’s play and nine assists on 13 made baskets after the break.

Baker said Hall gave an impassioned speech at halftime about responding to adversity and playing for each other.

“Great leader, part of this team, and he really just kind of gave it to us, things we needed to focus on,” Baker said. “I think it just took us too long to respond. In the second half, you could kind of see the life come back into us, but unfortunately against a good team like that it is kinda too late.”

As Young noted, another season begins next week, and with any kind of good fortune, Houston will be miles and miles away from the four sites where BYU could be sent in March Madness: Denver, Lexington, Kentucky; Providence, Rhode Island, or Wichita, Kansas.

“I know we’re undressing this game, but for me, I am just excited for our group to win nine out of 10 and play the way we’ve played,” Young said. “It gives us a lot of momentum going into the NCAA Tournament, so credit Houston for playing well, and we move on.”