FG 20%
3’s 19%
9 turnovers
6:30 without scoring to start the game
I’d start Stewart, Baker. Foos, Saunders and Crawford in the 2nd half.
Shooting killed BYU. About 32% overall and 21% from 3. BYU actually won the board battle by just a little and the turnovers were only 13 by BYU and 9 by Houston. It was definitely shooting that killed BYU more than anything. They seem to have solved the FT shooting problem, at least the last few games.
They weren’t going to hit 50% on 3s against Houston but even an average shooting game and it would have been close. I didn’t see the game. Was Houston just that good defensively, BYU that off, or a combination of the two?
I still expect BYU to win at least a game in the tournament. They won’t play anybody close to as good as Houston in the first round. Maybe they can get 2 wins.
would be my take…at first it was mostly just Houston being Houston, but they got into the Blue Cougars heads…then KY got them settled down at the half…if the second half had come first it would have been an interesting game the next half because my impression is that KY’s psych and team fitness would have finally made a positive score for BYU.
Agree completely with you. Houston’s defense against our offense with their players jams our offense up. They are experienced and physically strong. No bean polls out there like we tend to have. They are therefore quick and stay in front of us.
Our offense in the first half looked timid with 9 turnovers. Our shooting was awful. Feet weren’t under us and our elbows flinging out. Shots weren’t close to going in. Off to the left or right, long, long and then long. Second half was better. Too late.
Our defense was slow to react. We didn’t recover from the day before’s game physically. Houston keeps in front sliding left and right. We let them get around us and then run along side them as they lay the ball up or make a floater. Fundamentally, Houston is really good.
Houston locked down on BYU’s elite scoring machine:
Stop Saunders-check
Stop the 3s-check
Game over.
The “get downhill” strategy didn’t work against Houston. They are way too strong and visibly react so much quicker. Add the physicality allowed and it’s a horrible matchup for byu. There’s a reason only keba and fouss to an extent “thrived”. (Maybe survived is the better word)
Throw in missing sooo many shots. And wasn’t the bad form h points out- elbows fling out or whatever he always cites- it was harassing defense forcing rushed shot for fear of getting blocked. Many of the missed shots were caused by this. How many blocked shots? Like 9? How many almost blocked shots? 12+???. Totally intimidated.
Second half really not much better- Houston pretty well coasted while still being aggressive
Don’t know if they’ll win the Naty but would beat BYU 19 out of 20 times.
Next year we’ll compete much better
While Houston was making shots, we weren’t even close. Even open shots as well. And yes, they react quicker and stay in front of our players. Where we let their players get to our side and easily drive into the lane. We need to stay in front of them.