BYU Basketball Down One Starter For Gonzaga Game
Feb 5, 2022, 7:35 PM
Brigham Young Cougars guard Te'Jon Lucas (3) jumps into the air looking for a teammate with Texas Southern Tigers forward Joirdon Karl Nicholas (5) defending as BYU and Texas Southern play an NCAA basketball game at the Marriott Center in Provo on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. BYU won 81-64. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball will be without one of its top players on Saturday night when they host the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs.
Grad transfer guard Te’Jon Lucas is out due to an injury. Lucas, who has started and played in all of BYU’s 24 games this season, was seen in pregame warmups, not in his gameday attire. Instead, he was wearing a polo and pants.
Te’Jon Lucas is not in uniform tonight. He won’t be playing against the Zags.#BYU #BYUHoops @kslsports pic.twitter.com/bdWkXBAdV1
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 6, 2022
Without Lucas, it marks the second consecutive game for BYU with a starting lineup change. BYU Sports Network Play-by-Play voice Greg Wrubell reported from his pregame chat with coach Mark Pope that the starting five would include Alex Barcello, Trevin Knell, Seneca Knight, Gideon George, and Fousseyni Traore.
This will be Knight’s fifth start this season. BYU is 2-2 this year in games that Knight has started.
Lucas is averaging 10.4 points 5.2 assists per game this season. This is Lucas’s only season with the BYU program after transferring from the University of Milwaukee.
George started in Thursday’s loss against San Francisco, replacing Caleb Lohner, who is now coming off the bench. During the loss to the Dons, Knight scored 12 points and has been playing well defensively this season for BYU.
BYU head coach Mark Pope is making a second consecutive starting lineup change tonight—this one due to injury. 2nd-leading scorer and leading distributor Te’Jon Lucas will be unavailable tonight.
Starting five v. Gonzaga:
Barcello
Knell
Knight
George
Traore— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) February 6, 2022
The former San Jose State Spartan and LSU Tiger goes to a natural role for him at the three.
Trevin Knell has been a fixture in BYU’s starting lineup and freshman Fousseyni Traore. Traore is coming off a performance against San Francisco where he didn’t make a field goal.
But at the end of the day, BYU will go as far as senior guard Alex Barcello takes them. Barcello stepped out to the Marriott Center floor around 6:45 p.m. (MT) to loud cheers from a packed BYU ROC section.
BYU versus Gonzaga tips off at 8 p.m. on ESPN and KSL NewsRadio, your legacy home of the BYU Cougars.
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.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
