The Good & The Bad from BYU Basketball vs Boise State

BYU came up short against Boise State on Wednesday night.

Author:
Casey Lundquist
Publish date:
Dec 9, 2020 11:37 PM EST

BYU basketball overcame a dreadful start against Boise State on Wednesday night only to fall short in the final minute. Here is the good and the bad from BYU-Boise State.

The good

Caleb Lohner has struggled shooting the ball in the first few games of his career at BYU, but he makes an impact getting rebounds, playing defense, and drawing charges. Lohner made an impact in the early going when nothing was going right for BYU offensively.
BYU's defense kept them in the game in the first half.
Matt Haarms finally broke the seal on the basket in the first half after 12 scoreless minutes. He followed the first basket up with a three-point play the old fashioned way on the following possession.
Richard Harward brought physicality and hustle throughout the game. He played good defense, scored eight points, and he added a few offensive rebounds.
In the second half, BYU put together their best possession of the game offensively that set up this Alex Barcello three:

BYU battled all the way back from a slow start to tie the game with 10 minutes left in the game.
Spencer Johnson provided a scoring spark off the bench. Johnson finished with 10 points on 4/5 shooting.
In general, BYU's offense made adjustments and looked much better in the second half.
Matt Haarms carried a lot of the load offensively against Boise State, especially in the early going. Haarms finished with 18 points on 7/10 shooting from the field.
Alex Barcello kept BYU in the game with some clutch scoring late in the game including a layup that tied the game with under one minute remaining. Barcello finished with 22 points.

The bad

BYU's offense was horrendous in the early going. The Cougars were scoreless the first 8:30 of the game allowing Boise State to get out to a 14-0 lead.
The offense was stagnate and failed to create open looks. BYU lacked a guy that could beat man coverage and get a bucket, but that wouldn't come until later in the game.
BYU turned the ball over too many times in the first half creating easy scoring opportunities for Boise State.
BYU shot 7/21 in the first half including 1/10 from the three-point line.
Boise State's athleticism and length gave BYU a lot of problems on offense.
After battling all the way back to tie the game, BYU gave up a wide open three-point shot on the final defensive possession of the game. That shot was the difference, BYU missed their attempt on the following possession and Boise State left Provo with a win.