The Good & The Bad from BYU Basketball's Victory Over Portland

BYU took care of business in their first home game in over one month.

Author:
Casey Lundquist
Publish date:
Jan 21, 2021 11:38 PM EST

BYU took care of business in their first home game in over one month. The Cougars took down the Portland Pilots 95-67 thanks to a strong second half. Here is the good and the bad from BYU's victory over Portland:

The good

Post touch to Kolby Lee that he kicked out to Trevin Knell set up a wide-open three on the first possession of the game. BYU scored on three of their first four possessions of the game.
BYU got off to a great start. The Cougars got out to a 7-3 lead before Alex Barcello drew a charge and gave BYU another possession.
Portland had no match for Matt Haarms in the early going. Haarms was 2/2 in the first three minutes with two rebounds.
Spencer Johnson ended a Portland run with a much-needed three. Johnson's three cut the early Portland lead to four.
BYU responded to an early Portland run with a 7-0 run of their own.
Alex Barcello got on the board with five minutes remaining in the first half. His shot was assisted by Caleb Lohner. Barcello got going and ended with 10 points on 3/7 shooting.
BYU took a 37-31 lead into the break after a slow start. The Cougars would not look back.
Just like the first half, Trevin Knell hit a three-point shot to get the second half started for BYU. Knell had nine points off 3/8 shooting from deep.
Matt Haarms created multiple second-chance opportunities. He was also a force on the defensive end - he had three blocks against the Pilots.
BYU got off to a good start in the second half. The Cougars started on a 7-2 run to push the lead to 11.
Caleb Lohner passed really well out of the post on Thursday night. Lohner finished with nine points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Gideon George came in midway through the second half for his first minutes of the game. George, as he typically does, made an impact immediately. He contested a shot on one end before draining a three on the other end. It's unclear why he didn't play in the first half.
Great first ten minutes of the second half for BYU - they extended the lead from 7 points at half to 24 points.
BYU used a 14-0 run to put the game out of reach with nine minutes remaining in the game.
Matt Haarms had his best game in a BYU uniform - he was terrific. He finished with 23 points on 9/9 shooting and 6 rebounds.
After suffering what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury, Richard Haward returned to the game and played well in the second half.
BYU shot lights out in the second half and shared the ball really well. BYU assisted on 78% of their field goals against the Pilots.
BYU outscored Portland 58 to 36 in the second.
Connor Harding shot well from three on Thursday night. Harding shot 3/5 from deep.

The bad

BYU allowed a few open threes in the early going that allowed Portland to stay in the game in the first half.
After a hot start on offense, BYU went on a four-minute scoring drought where the Cougars went 0/6 from the field. The drought allowed a 10-0 run for Portland.
Overall, not a crisp first half for BYU, espeically defensively. Rotations were slow and the Cougars missed Gideon George on the defensive end.