Three Observations From BYU Loss To Pepperdine In Malibu

PROVO, Utah – The BYU Cougars lost to the Pepperdine Waves  76-73 in their second consecutive meeting of the season.

Alex Barcello had a chance to tie the game with less than 10 seconds to go, but his corner three point attempt didn’t fall.

The Cougars led by as many 11 in the second half before surrending the lead with 12 minutes to go.

Final. pic.twitter.com/CpKrqvyWeQ

— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) January 27, 2021

BYU is now 5-5 all-time playing Pepperdine in Malibu, California.

Here are my three observations from a tough conference road loss.

1. Late game mistakes

The game was tied at 73 with 55 seconds remaining. What ensued next was some costly mistakes that proved to be too much to overcome.

First costly mistake came from Connor Harding who fouled Colbey Ross well beyond the three point line with 44 seconds left sending Ross to the free throw line.

Ross only made one of two free throws. The door was open for BYU to take the lead with under 30 seconds to play.

On the following offensive possession, Spencer Johnson stumbled late in the shot clock and turned the ball over trying to make a pass to the corner.

I thought there were a few opportunites prior to the turnover where open shots were passed up.

Execution is critical when the game is tied with under a minute to go and those two mistakes cost the Cougars a chance to get a win in Malibu.

2. BYU Three point shooting woes

Alex Barcello has been oustanding from deep this season. Against the Waves however, Barcello has struggled.

He was 1 for 6, which included a late miss that would have tied the game.

I think this team is fantastic. However, they'll need to shoot a lot better from 3 or there will be a few more games like today.

— Mark Durrant (@DurrantMark) January 27, 2021

The starting backcourt of Barcello, Brandon Averette, and Trevin Knell combined to shoot 1 for 14 from downtown.

It’s going to be difficult to win road games in any conference with shooting numbers like that.

Long distance shooting has not been the strength of this years team, but it will need to improve if BYU wants to earn an at-large bid.

3. Bench scoring

The Cougar bench unit has been oustanding during conference play. Richard Harward, Caleb Lohner, and Spencer Johnson have been a huge boost to this squad.

They combined for 36 of the team’s 38 points off the bench. Johnson led all scorers for BYU with 15 points.

It’s fantastic that Coach Pope continues to get production for his bench. The problem is, he’s not getting consistent production from the starting unit.

38 bench points is great. 35 points from the starters is not.

Who had Spencer Johnson and Richard Harward as the guys that would be carrying #BYU down the stretch in this game?#BYUHoops #WCChoops @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 27, 2021

It’s not ideal for the bench unit to be relied upon to make plays at the end of games.

Coach Pope and his coaching staff need to find a better way to blend the starting group with the bench. Perhaps it’s time to shake up the starting lineup in order to find more scoring to start the game.

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 here.