Career Night For Alex Barcello Lifts BYU Over USF

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball defeated the USF Dons on Thursday night, 79-73, behind a career performance from guard Alex Barcello.

Barcello scored 29 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 from three-point range, setting a BYU single-game record for most made threes without a miss. For a game that featured 1,750 fans, it was already a memorable night with it being the first game at the Marriott Center with fans, then Barcello added to the memories.

Take that victory lap, Cougs. 👏

Final: @BYUbasketball 79, @USFDonsMBB 73.#BYU #GoCougs #BYUHoops pic.twitter.com/aitsicoJaC

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 26, 2021

Barcello passed Nate Call and Brock Zylstra who previously set the record at six made threes without a miss. Call did it in 1991 against rival Utah and Zylstra against USF as well in 2012.

The entire BYU team shot the ball well on Thursday. BYU was 59 percent from the field and 58 percent from three-point range. The win puts BYU at 18-5 overall, and 9-3 in West Coast Conference play.

Barcello for three…again. A perfect 7-7.

AB has now set a #BYU single-game record for most three-point attempts without a miss.

He now has a career-high 27 points.#BYUHoops #GoCougs

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 26, 2021

USF was a resident team bouncing back from multiple double-digit deficits. But BYU had answers at every turn in the form of Barcello and true freshman Caleb Lohner who scored 13 to give BYU their third straight win and fifth victory in their last six.

Next up for BYU is their regular-season finale against Saint Mary’s on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.

2nd Half – Barcello’s hot shooting secures the win

BYU 79, USF 73 (FINAL): BYU guard Alex Barcello pulled off a record-setting night. He made all seven of his three-point attempts without a miss. USF would not go down easy, though. They continued to get second chance opportunities that kept them close to BYU. Ultimately, Barcello was too much for the Dons, who made a clutch front-end on free throws to ice the game.

BYU 65, USF 57 (4:27): USF reeled off a quick 8-0 run that forced Mark Pope to call a 30-second timeout. Khalil Shabazz didn’t hit his first field goal until the 4:27 mark of the second half.

BYU 62, USF 49 (7:01): Alex Barcello continues his hot shooting from three, as he is a perfect 4-4. After a little bit of a USF threat cutting down the lead to six, BYU ran back it up to a game-high 13 point-lead.

BYU has taken better care of the ball in the second half, while the Dons are starting to catch up with USF’s turnover total. Cougars have nine to USF’s seven.

BYU 52, USF 46 (11:11): 

BYU 48, USF 38 (15:02):

Halftime Observations

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KSL Sports (@kslsports)

1st Half – 

BYU 41, USF 33 (HALF): BYU closed the half strong, highlighted by a monster two-hand dunk from Lohner. The Cougars ended the half shooting 65 percent from the field and three-point range.

BYU 28, USF 25 (3:29): Caleb Lohner reeled off a quick five points leading to USF’s Todd Golden to burn a 30-second timeout. Gideon George switched onto Jamaree Bouyea, and for a few possessions, the Dons star guard was flustered by George’s length and athleticism.

USF’s other star guard, Khalil Shabazz, scored his first points of the game from the free-throw line.

BYU 21, USF 20 (7:46): USF started to go cold after a three-minute drought on field goals but held onto the lead until Alex Barcello knocked down a wide-open three to put BYU up by one.

If Alex Barcello is knocking down three’s as he did in the non-conference portion of BYU’s season, that is the type of production that could lead to a deep run in March.

USF 17, BYU 16 (11:09): The Dons took an early lead in large part due to some turnovers from BYU. Caleb Lohner got his night started in the scoring column with a three. He continues to be automatic from deep as of late.

BYU 9, San Francisco 8 (15:44): All nine of BYU’s points were scored by its trio of seniors (Brandon Averette, Alex Barcello, and Matt Haarms).

San Francisco had some early success on the offensive glass, creating second, and even third-chance opportunities. USF’s star guard Jamaree Bouyea scored an early five points for the Dons.

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.