The Good & The Bad from BYU Basketball's Win over Pepperdine

BYU improved to 4-1 in WCC play with a win over Pepperdine on Saturday night.

Author:
Casey Lundquist
Publish date:
Jan 24, 2021 12:21 AM EST

BYU improved to 4-1 in WCC play with a win over Pepperdine on Saturday night. The Cougars were about to turn the game into a blowout when a Pepperdine run made the game competitive. Here is the good and the bad from BYU's win over Pepperdine:

The good

Kolby Lee got the scoring started for BYU with one of his trademark hook shoots.
Trevin Knell hit two quick threes early in the game - he started 2/2 from deep. Knell's hot start was part of a better start for BYU than we've seen over the last couple weeks.
Brandon Averette was consistently getting to the rim in the early going which including a pretty reverse layup. Jake Edmonds posted the following video of Averette's layup on twitter:

Brandon Averette played really well in the early going. He had nine points in the first 11 minutes of the game off 4/6 shooting. That accounted for half of BYU's point during that timeframe. His scoring gave BYU an 18-11 lead.
BYU kept Pepperdine stars Colbey Ross and Kessler Edwards quiet in the early going. At one point, Pepperdine only made 1 out of 13 field goal attempts and 10 in a row over six minutes.
Great hustle by Richard Harward on a loose ball gave BYU an extra possession which turned into a Kolby Lee field goal. Lee's field goal gave the Cougars a 23-15 lead.
BYU played great defense in the first half. BYU allowed 26 points on 22% shooting for Pepperdine. At one point in the first half, the Waves were 1 for their last 18 from the field.
Trevin Knell hit his third three in the first half. Knell was BYU's most consistent shooter from deep in the first half. Knell and Averette accounted for 22 of BYU's 37 first half points.
BYU took a 37-26 lead into the halftime break.
Haarms started the second half with a great block
Knell continued to shoot well in the second half. He finished with 12 points.
Haarms had multiple blocks in the second half. He finished with four blocks.
Richard Harward ended a four minute scoring drought with a much-needed field goal. Pepperdine had cut the lead to four when Haward made that shot.
A great play by Brandon Averette forced a Pepperdine turnover when BYU had a three-point lead and Pepperdine had a chance to tie the game. Averette was excellent on Saturday night - he finished with 15 points on 6/11 shooting.
With two minutes remaining, Matt Haarms made a huge shot with the shot clock winding down. Haarms' fadeaway shot pushed BYU's lead to seven. Kolby Lee sealed the victory with a bucket on the following possession. All of that was part of an 8-0 run that sealed the victory for the Cougars.

The bad

Turnovers stalled BYU's offense after the first media timeout. BYU had four turnovers in the first seven minutes.
Alex Barcello took an elbow to the face. He either lost or chipped his front tooth. Shortly after losing his tooth, Barcello was called for his third foul with three minutes left in the first half.
Two minutes after Alex Barcello was called for his third foul in the first half, Brandon Averette was called for his third foul of the first half.
This article was full of bullet points under "The good" category with about 11 minutes remaining. BYU was about to put the game away before Pepperdine went on a 12-0 run that made this game competitive. BYU's lead was cut from 16 to 4 over the timeframe.
BYU really struggled offensively in the second half. The Cougars shot 31% in the second half. They will need to fix their offensive woes before they take on Pepperdine again next Wednesday.