BYU Basketball Remains Optimistic After Blowout Loss To Top-Ranked Gonzaga

PROVO, Utah – Less than one year after upsetting Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs program, BYU basketball got a quick lesson on how much progress the Zags have made since that senior night win in the Marriott Center.

No. 1 Gonzaga rolls through #BYU in the Cougars WCC season opener. #BYUHoops #GoCougs https://t.co/jBztWek5r6 pic.twitter.com/4NEsqBSgWl

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 8, 2021

No. 1 Gonzaga, no longer the darling Cinderella of the past. The Bulldogs showed, once again, against a BYU team that’s projected to make the NCAA Tournament, that they are an elite team that has the potential to be the nation’s first undefeated National Champion in 45 years.

Gonzaga steamrolled through BYU to the tune of 86-69. A final score that doesn’t highlight how dominant the Bulldogs were against a BYU team that hadn’t played since December 23rd.

Mark Pope on Gonzaga: “They have a chance to be a generational team.”

“They have a chance to be a generational team,” said BYU basketball coach Mark Pope after the 17-point setback. “They’ve certainly started the season that way with what they’ve done to top-20 teams and everybody else. They are really difficult to handle.”

Gonzaga jumped out to a 23-2 to crush any hopes of BYU pulling out some magic to upset the Zags once again. Zags senior leader Cory Kispert scored a game-high 23 points as Gonzaga improved to 11-0 and 2-0 in WCC play.

Final. pic.twitter.com/nhnVR0nJJK

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) January 8, 2021

“I did a poor job getting our energy right to start the game. I’m not exactly sure why; we’re trying to figure that out right now,” Pope said. “It wasn’t that our guys weren’t excited to play, but the moment for this group was just too big for us to start. The length and athleticism were not surprising, but it’s different when you feel it. We did not respond early on and we kind of dug ourselves a hole.”

Pope and his program have prided themselves on being the “Best Locker Room in America.” After suffering a difficult defeat where opportunities to get back into the game were few and far between, it could have been easy for BYU to roll over and give up. Pope didn’t see that.

“I was really proud of the guys that at no point of the game did they walk away. That is no consolation for losing; that is actually the DNA of a team that has the chance to be really, really good. In a really tough night where we clearly didn’t start well against the best team in the country and for the guys to stay in and stay locked in, really almost to a man, for the entire game trying to compete and trying to get better, that’s who we are and what we have to do, and we will.”

Reasons for BYU Basketball to optimistic on a tough night

Freshman Caleb Lohner was a bright spot on a difficult night. The former Wasatch Academy standout had one of the best games of his BYU career off the bench, showing he isn’t afraid of the big stage. Lohner scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, and shot 71 percent from the field. A significant uptick from the struggles shooting the ball he showed in non-conference play.

Gideon George was another bright spot with 11 points and five rebounds. George had a sequence of buckets and a block in the first half that cut Gonzaga’s deficit to 13 after the under-four media timeout before the Zags came back out and popped off another 11-0 run.

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

There were enough flashes from BYU players to give a reason for optimism for when the next showdown with the Zags comes around to close out the regular season in February. But when that game happens, the Cougars will need a better night from their star in Alex Barcello.

Barcello, who came into the game as the nation’s best three-point shooter, only made one of his four three-point attempts. The senior guard finished with nine points and six turnovers.

A long layoff for BYU basketball posed challenges to try and simulate a juggernaut like the Zags on 48-hour notice. But now, the challenge for Pope and his program will be to make sure to have the best version of their team ready the next time these two teams meet.

“I’m really excited about getting this out of the way the first game of conference because it shows us clearly and glaringly some areas where we have to get massively better,” Pope said. “As a team, you like that because it gives you a benchmark that’s real and tangible that you can shoot for and work towards every day and talk about. I have a locker room full of guys that will do that.

“They’re not going to walk away from here crushed and discouraged. They are certainly really disappointed. But they’re really focused on getting better, and they will. We have a huge upside. A brutal night for us, no doubt. Incredibly disappointing. But we’ll put it in the hopper, and it’s going to make us better; we’re going to use it to make us better.”

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.