BYU Basketball Thumped In Kennel By No. 1 Gonzaga, 86-69

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball opened up West Coast Conference play with the daunting task of taking on the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs. The task was as difficult as advertised. After jumping out to a 20-2 lead, the Zags rolled through BYU to the tune of an 86-69 victory.

With the loss, BYU falls to 9-3 on the season and 0-1 in West Coast Conference play.

BYU is next in action on January 14th against Saint Mary’s in Moraga, California.

Here are updates throughout the game from tonight’s BYU/Gonzaga matchup.

#BYU falls to Gonzaga 86-69 in The Kennel.

Cougars are now 9-3 (0-1 WCC).#BYUHoops #GoCougs

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/CC7ghMKjFu

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 8, 2021

Live BYU/Gonzaga In-Game Updates

Second Half

Final minutes of the game: BYU kept battling throughout the entire game. One of the positives for the Cougars in a game that was a blowout from start to finish has been Caleb Lohner. Lohner was one of the top performers in the game for BYU in the blowout loss.

Barcello put up an alley-oop for Lohner who grabbed the ball and laid it in. Lohner finished the night with 13 points and five rebounds in the loss.

Under-4 timeout: Gonzaga leads 83-57 with 3:25 remaining. It might be time to stop scheduling games 48 hours in advance.

Under-12: timeout: BYU forward Wyatt Lowell suffered a non-contact lower leg injury that required trainer Rob Ramos and assistant coach Chris Burgess to help him off the court. A former UVU transfer, Lowell suffered a torn labrum injury in the off-season.

Gonzaga led BYU 75-45.

Under-16 timeout: Alex Barcello opened the half knocking down his first three-point field goal of the game. BYU’s offense started to get in a rhythm but on the defensive end, they couldn’t come up stops to make a big dent in the deficit. Gonzaga led BYU 62-40 with 15:56 remaining in the game.

First Half

A lot of work to do in the second half.@ZagMBB – 52@BYUbasketball – 29#BYU #GoCougs #BYUHoops

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/5JVzYcvoUI

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 8, 2021

Closing minutes of the first half: Gonzaga came out of the timeout and built the lead back up to 19 after going on a 6-0 run. BYU then had a turnover from Brandon Averette attempting a pass to Matt Haarms. Jalen Suggs then knocked down an uncontested three to put the Zags up by 22 with less than two minutes remaining. On BYU’s next possession, Suggs made his impact felt once again drawing a charge near the baseline on Averette.

Gonzaga built up their run to 13 unanswered before Caleb Lohner hit a field goal to draw an and-one opportunity. Lohner hit the free throw and BYU was down 52-29 with 24.9 seconds left.

To end the half, Suggs turned the ball over giving BYU one more possession. Alex Barcello passed to Brandon Averette who missed a layup at the rim as the Cougars went into the halftime locker room trailing 52-29.

Under-4 timeout: Gideon George came off the bench and gave BYU a spark. The junior college transfer scored four points and recorded a block that led to a Caleb Lohner three, cutting Gonzaga’s lead down to 13 at 39-26 with 3:58 remaining.

Gideon George providing a spark off the bench for #BYU.

Cougars have cut the deficit down to 13.@ZagMBB – 39@BYUbasketball – 26#BYUHoops #GoCougs

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/vyxGBR6c72

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 8, 2021

Under-8 timeout: Coming out of the under-12 timeout, BYU’s Matt Haarms gave the Cougars a little bit of a boost with an And-1 to cut the deficit to 20. A couple of possessions later, Haarms fell to the floor nursing his left knee that is already braced up. He was grimacing but remained in the game scoring a baseline floater. BYU then got a defensive stop and Kolby Lee made a “quickie” shot to put the game at 32-14 with 8:38 remaining.

Haarms continued to play through pain in his knee. Gonzaga led 34-16 with 7:15 remaining. BYU is shooting 27 percent from the field to Gonzaga’s 59 percent.

Under-12 timeout: The Zags jumped out to a 23-2 lead after Florida transfer Andrew Nembhard knocked down a three. BYU hit only its second field goal with 11:55 remaining when Spencer Johnson knocked down a corner three. Gonzaga jumping out to a big lead forced BYU to begin pressing on the floor and play outside of their comfort. Seven-foot center Oumar Ballo for Gonzaga came off the bench and hit a layup to give the Zags a 30-7 lead with 10:43 remaining.

Under-16 media timeout: Gonzaga showed why they are the best team in college basketball in the opening minutes. Suffocating defense on BYU leading to five turnovers. Gonzaga’s Drew Timme scored eight points in the opening minutes and the Zags jumped out to a 16-2 lead forcing Mark Pope to burn a timeout.

Shaking off the two week rust, right? 😬@ZagMBB – 16@BYUbasketball – 2#BYU #GoCougs

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/PfsoF4pHAF

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 8, 2021

*****

This game came together earlier this week after the West Coast Conference modified schedules to bring its top two programs together for a national showcase game. BYU was originally supposed to play Pacific and Gonzaga was going to face Santa Clara. Each of those California-based league foes is battling COVID-19 issues at the moment.

The last time BYU and Gonzaga faced off against one another was a classic. BYU upset No. 2 Gonzaga in the Marriott Center in Provo in front of a sold-out Senior Night crowd. Gonzaga hasn’t lost a game since that night on February 22nd, 2020.

BYU comes into the game with a 9-2 record and is squarely in the NCAA Tournament conversation after non-conference victories against the likes of San Diego State, St. John’s, and Utah State.

This is the eighth time in BYU’s history that dates back to 1902 they will face an AP No. 1-ranked team. Previous three meetings against a top-ranked team have also come against Gonzaga.

BYU Basketball Projected Starting Lineups

G – Alex Barcello, 6-2, 180; Sr.

G – Brandon Averette, 5-11, 185; Sr.

G – Connor Harding, 6-6, 185; Jr.

F – Kolby Lee, 6-9, 240; Jr.

C – Matt Haarms, 7-3, 250; Sr.

Gonzaga Projected Starting Lineups

G – Jalen Suggs, 6-4, 205; Fr.

G – Joel Ayayi, 6-5, 180; Jr.

G – Corey Kispert, 6-7, 220; Sr.

F – Anton Watson, 6-8, 225; Soph.

F – Drew Timme, 6-10, 235; Soph.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.