Three Observations From BYU Basketball’s Road Win At Pepperdine

PROVO, Utah – BYU Basketball took down Pepperdine, 91-85 in Malibu. It was a must-win for BYU as their NCAA Tournament hopes have been hanging by a thread this week.

Made it happen in Malibu‼️ pic.twitter.com/5Vi4tz79Jk

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 13, 2022

Here are my three observations from the win as BYU improves to 19-8 overall and 7-5 in WCC play.

#1 Give Alex Barcello open shots; he will make you pay

Throughout WCC play this season, BYU basketball guard Alex Barcello has rarely been able to get a wide-open shot off. The super senior has faced a lot of face guarding against league opponents, and as of late, he’s been in a bit of a slump shooting the ball by his standards.

Alex Barcello has a new career-high (31 points). He's knocked down nine three-pointers. What a night for the super senior guard.#BYU #BYUHoops @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 13, 2022

Well, Pepperdine was a slump buster for Barcello as Lorenzo Romar’s squad made the grave mistake of allowing one of the nation’s best shooters to have numerous wide-open looks.

Barcello made them pay scoring a career-high 33 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 from deep.

When Barcello is on his game offensively, it provides so much confidence to this BYU team. The opportunities to have wide-open shots will likely be tougher to come by down the season’s stretch as the stakes get higher and the competition gets more challenging. But when AB gets an opening, he’s going to bury it. A great luxury for this BYU team to have.

#2 Caleb Lohner had his best offensive performance this season

Earlier this week, BYU coach Mark Pope praised Caleb Lohner for being relentless and being the ultimate teammate despite personal struggles with his game. Even when things don’t go according to plan, the willingness to grind paid off for Lohner on Saturday night against Pepperdine.

This is the breakthrough offensive performance that Caleb Lohner needed. He's playing great tonight

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 13, 2022

Lohner scored 14 points on 6-of-7 from the field and he was a perfect 2-for-2 from three, an area where he has had significant struggles.

The talent from Lohner is undeniable; that’s why his struggles this season have been shocking. A preseason All-WCC selection, there were high hopes for Lohner this year. Despite offensive struggles, he’s still had a knack for producing winning plays in road wins at San Francisco and LMU. But now, if this performance at Pepperdine gets his offensive play to fall into place, it’s a game-changer for BYU.

#3 BYU basketball giving up big performances on defense

Coming into Saturday night’s game, Pepperdine averaged 67 points per game and was one of the worst shooting teams in the WCC. Against BYU, they looked like a high-powered offense, scoring 85 points and shooting 59% from the field and 43% from three. Pepperdine struggled at the free-throw line, shooting 69%, including a pair of missed front-ends.

During the early portion of BYU’s WCC schedule, the Cougars were pacing for one of their best defensive seasons in the last two decades, and that was without the presence of Gavin Baxter and Richard Harward. Not having Fousseyni Traore due to a lower-body injury on Saturday night didn’t help BYU’s defensive woes against Pepperdine, but it can’t be the sole factor for the struggles.

These recent defensive woes have to be fixed before the WCC Tournament. If BYU gives up a hot shooting performance to a team in the conference tourney, it could result in an early exit and a postseason destination that wouldn’t be March Madness.

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. 

Follow @Mitch_Harper