The Good & The Bad from BYU Basketball's Blowout Loss at Gonzaga

BYU traveled to Spokane on Thursday to take on the #1 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

BYU traveled to Spokane on Thursday to take on the #1 Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Cougars were simply outmatched against the top-ranked Zags losing by a score of 69-86. Here is the good and the bad from BYU's blowout loss:

The good

• After an abysmal start to the game, Spencer Johnson hit the first three of the game for BYU with 12:00 minutes remaining.
• Out of a timeout in the first half, Kolby Lee found Matt Haarms down low with a nice little pass for the three-point play.
• In what turned out to be the best stretch of the game for BYU, BYU played tough defense four a stretch of six minutes which allowed the Cougars to go on a 9-2 run.
• Late in the first half, Gideon George had a nice sequence that included a field on one end, a stop at the other end, then a driving layup on the following possession. That was part of a 10-2 BYU run that cut Gonzaga's lead to 13 with four minutes to go in the first half. 
• Caleb Lohner and Gideon George played very well for BYU on Thursday night. Lohner had 13 points and 5 rebounds, George had 11 points and 5 rebounds. There was a noticeable difference when both players were on the court for the Cougars.

The bad

• BYU turned it over on three of their first four possessions which allowed Gonzaga to get out to an 8-0 lead.
• BYU was dominated in every facet of the game in the first four minutes. Gonzaga took a 16-2 lead into the under-16 timeout.
• Turnovers killed the Cougars in the early going - they had five turnovers in the first four minutes.
• BYU started 1/8 from the floor and the Zags took a 20-2 lead.
• Gonzaga had a 30-7 lead with 10:42 in the first half. The first ten minutes could not have been any worse for the Cougars.
• After cutting the lead to 13 late in the first half, Gonzaga made a 13-0 after a timeout to increase the lead to 26. Gonzaga would take a 52-29 lead into the locker room.
• Alex Barcello did not have a great night in Spokane. The Cougars' leading scoring had 9 points on 3/11 shooting and 6 turnovers.
• Wyatt Lowell suffered a non-contact injury. It did not look good on the broadcast and appeared to be an achilles injury
• To beat a great team like Gonzaga on the road, you need to shoot well from deep. BYU did not on Thursday - they were 4/16 from three against Gonzaga.