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Not in our house: BYU men’s basketball turns to defense, races past Pacific 81-66

By Darnell Dickson - | Feb 4, 2023

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU's Gideon George (5) blocks a shot attempt by Pacific's Tyler Beard during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

BYU isn’t always going to shoot 60% from the field in the first half, like it did in Thursday’s rout of Loyola Marymount.

When the Cougars play defense like they did on Saturday against high-scoring Pacific, it doesn’t matter.

BYU frustrated the Tigers all night long with active hands, finishing with 12 steals and five blocks in a convincing 81-66 victory in front of 14.431 fans at the Marriott Center.

Those steals and blocks got the Cougars out in transition, which led to a 27-10 advantage in points off turnovers and an 18-6 lead in fast break points.

“I would say they probably spark us,” BYU guard Rudi Williams said. “We got those steals and that helped us get out of there on transition and accumulate easy baskets.”

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU's Fousseyni Traore scores against Pacific during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

Another key factor for the Cougars was that coach Mark Pope was forced to go 11 deep in his first half rotation because of foul trouble and there was zero drop-off.

Everyone contributed.

“That’s super important because we had three guys sitting with two fouls early in this game so we expanded the rotation,” Pope said. “It’s a real luxury not to have to tighten the rotation and to be able to expand it when we need to. It’s hard to see for players, parents, fans and media, but we need everybody and everybody has the opportunity to make an impact on the game.”

Fousseyni Traore led BYU with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Gideon George also notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Rudi Williams and Jaxson Robinson had 11 points each off the bench. Richie Saunders and Trey Stewart also gave the Cougars good minutes, especially on the defensive end.

For the second straight game, BYU had single-digit turnovers (9).

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU's Gideon George gestures to the crowd before the start of a men's college basketball game against Pacific at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

Jordan Ivy-Curry led Pacific (5-5, 12-13) with 11 points but leading scorer Keylan Boone was held to five points on 1 of 7 from the field. The Tigers stayed within shouting distance by making 20 of 24 free throws but one of the West Coast Conference’s best 3-point shooting teams managed just 6 of 21 (29%) from beyond the arc.

WCC officials had fun, whistling the two teams for 49 fouls which resulted in 51 free throw attempts.

An 8-2 burst midway through the first half, including an athletic tip in by Stewart, got the Cougars out to a 25-17 lead with nine minutes to play in the first half. Pacific reeled BYU back in and led 30-29 with 4:12 to go.

The Cougars responded with a 12-0 run, keyed by some outstanding plays from George. He had a pair of offensive rebounds on one possession that finished with a Robinson 3-pointer. Then with 30 seconds left, George blocked a Tigers jump shot and pushed the ball ahead to Richie Saunders for a layup that gave BYU a 41-30 lead at halftime.

Nine of the 11 Cougars who played in the first half scored, led by Saunders with nine, George seven and Robinson seven.

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU's Richie Saunders (in white) sails in for a layup during a men's college basketball game against Pacific at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

The second half was a painful reminder that men in stripes have whistles, and they aren’t afraid to use them. With fouls seemingly whistled on every possession, the teams were assessed 29 fouls and awarded 33 free throws. Both sides were in the double bonus midway through the second half and the Tigers took advantage by making more than the Cougars.

BYU surged and led by 19, 61-42, with 12:18 to play when Saunders nabbed a steal and fed Robinson for a dunk. Aided by the change in tempo due to the fouls, Pacific managed to get back within 12 a couple of time but the Cougars remained in control.

BYU finally ran away from the Tigers with a 12-0 run over a four-minute period with five points from Traore and steals/fast break layups by Dallin Hall and Johnson for an 81-57 lead with three minutes remaining.

BYU (6-5, 16-10) plays at Pepperdine on Thursday and then travels to Spokane for a game against Gonzaga on Saturday.

“I just want us to keep going and keep getting better,” Williams said “We want to get some momentum heading into Vegas finishing these last conference games. I feel like when we get to Vegas, no one’s going to want to play us in that first game. Maybe the first time when we played them we dropped the game or something. But they know we’re a dangerous team. And we’ve definitely gotten better since the last time we’ve seen them.”

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU's Fousseyni Traore scores against Pacific during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

BYU's Gideon George (5) drives to the basket against Pacific during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

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