No. 20 BYU Basketball Struggles In Second Half Against No. 25 Texas Tech
Jan 20, 2024, 6:47 PM | Updated: Jan 23, 2024, 6:28 pm
Provo, Utah – No. 20 BYU basketball blew a 17-point lead against No. 25 Texas Tech losing to the Red Raiders 85-78.
BYU had a new starting lineup for the third consecutive game. Sophomore Richie Saunders got the start in place of Noah Waterman who wasn’t available due to a concussion suffered against Iowa State.
Waterman finished the game against the Cyclones, meaning there must have been some symptoms that arose after the game rendering him unavailable.
BYU will use its fifth different starting lineup with this season with Richie Saunders making his third career start.#BYUHoops #GoCougs
— BYU Game Notes (@BYUGameNotes) January 20, 2024
Jaxson Robinson got his second consecutive start as well in place of Trevin Knell who came off the bench against the Red Raiders.
Here’s a recap of the action from the Cougar’s first visit to United Supermarkets Arena as a Big 12 conference member.
First Half Notes
16:41 remaining – The new starting lineup wasn’t a problem for the Cougars who jumped out to a blistering hot start scoring the first eight points.
Jaxson Robinson and Aly Khalifa made three-point shots to force an early Texas Tech timeout. BYU 8, Texas Tech 0
14:49 remaining – Dallin Hall is getting in on the three-point action making his first attempt of the game. Texas Tech is struggling to score. They’ve only made one of their first nine field goals. BYU 13, Texas Tech 3
11:24 remaining – The Cougars are getting a strong contribution off the bench from Fousseyni Traore. He’s provided a much-needed presence in the post. Dallin Hall is playing great in the first half. He’s leading the team in rebounds with four. BYU 17, Texas Tech 6
Earlier this season, Dallin Hall and Mark Pope said that Aly Khalifa’s passing ability has inspired Fouss and other frontcourt players to improve their passing.
You just saw an example of that from Traore. Excellent assist.#BYU #BYUHoops #Big12
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 20, 2024
7:08 remaining – BYU is shooting 47 percent from the three-point line. Five different players have made a three-point shot. This team is borderline unbeatable when they are shooting the ball like they are in the first half. BYU 33, Texas Tech 18
3:43 remaining – Richie Saunders has been fantastic in his first start of the season. He just finished a lay-up at the rim over Warren Washington, one of the conference’s best-shot blockers. Saunders has eight points to lead the Cougars in scoring. BYU 37, Texas Tech 24
Halftime – Texas Tech caused a few turnovers to cut the BYU lead down to nine points late in the first half, but the Cougars responded thanks to excellent long-range shooting.
Dallin Hall buried a beautiful step-back three-pointer and then followed that up with a nice penetration kick-out pass to Aly Khalifa who buried the triple.
BYU is 10 for 20 from the three-point line. BYU 48, Texas Tech 32
Second Half Notes
14:42 remaining – What was once a 17-point for BYU has been cut in half. The crowd is into it down in Lubbock. The lead was trimmed down to seven before Dallin Hall made a huge three-point basket to calm down the Cougars. BYU 53, Texas Tech 44
11:42 remaining – The BYU lead is gone. The Cougars have only managed to score seven points in the second half. Pressure by Texas Tech has created turnovers. It’s anybody’s ball game now. Three-point shooting has cooled off. They are 1 for 9 in the second half. BYU 55, Texas Tech 53
7:50 remaining – Cougars are hanging onto a narrow lead thanks to some circus shots from Aly Khalifa. All the momentum is in favor of Texas Tech. Warren Washington is in foul trouble for the Red Raiders. BYU should attack him with Fouss Traore in the low post. BYU 62, Texas Tech 60
Pop Isaac’s is absolutely shredding this #BYU defense in the second half.
Cougar scoring droughts seemingly always come in the second half. #BYUhoops
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) January 21, 2024
2:41 remaining – Pop Isaacs is absolutely shredding BYU in the second half. He’s up to 28 points making 6 for 9 from the three-point line.
A costly turnover from Dallin Hall led to another triple from Isaacs who has BYU down by five points with less than three minutes remaining. BYU 70, Texas Tech 75
Final Score – BYU Basketball 85, Texas Tech 78
Pop Isaacs was outstanding for Texas Tech, especially in the second half. He scored 23 points in the second half, 32 points for the game.
BYU is still searching for answers when defenses crank up the pressure in the second half. The Cougars committed eight of their 12 turnovers in the final half.
You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter @baiamontematt here.
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