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BYU's Dallin Hall powers to the basket in a men's college basketball game against Saint Mary's at the Marriott Center on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Harold Mitchell/Special to the Herald

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BYU's Dallin Hall drives to the basket against Saint Mary's in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Harold Mitchell/Special to the Herald

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore (center) goes up between a pair of Saint Mary's defenders in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Harold Mitchell/Special to the Herald

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore (left) challenges a shot from Saint Mary's guard Logan Johnson during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Harold Mitchell/Special to the Herald

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BYU's Tredyn Christensen (right) defends a shot by Saint Mary's guard Aiden Mahaney during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, January 28, 2023.

Harold Mitchell/Special to the Herald

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BYU freshman Dallin Hall scored a career-high 23 points against No. 22 Saint Mary’s on Saturday, but would probably trade anything for just one more free throw.

To be fair, the Cougars wouldn’t even have been in the game against the Gaels were it not for Hall’s relentless gritty drives to the basket. But he also missed the first of two free throws with 10.2 seconds to play, making the second for a 56-55 BYU lead.

Saint Mary’s star freshman Aiden Mahaney played hero just moments later, draining a difficult 17-foot fall away jumper off one foot over Fousseyni Traore with 0.4 seconds showing on the clock to give the Gaels a 57-56 victory in front of 15,843 fans at the Marriot Center.

It was no “Dellavedagger” (Matthew Dellavedova’s 40-foot shot to beat BYU at the Marriott Center in 2013, for those who need to be painfully reminded) but Mahaney’s buzzer beater was still a jagged knife to the heart for the Cougars.

Especially considering BYU’s own terrific effort playing shorthanded. Before the game it was announced that starting forward Jaxson Robinson and critical subs Atiki Ally Atiki and Noah Waterman had been suspended for violating a team rule.

When asked about the suspensions in the post-game news conference, Pope responded, “I’m super emotional. We just had eight dudes battle like crazy and in heroic fashion. What are we talking about here? We just had some special guys put up special performances. Let’s talk about that.”

Hall’s 23-point total surpassed his previous high of 14, scored against both South Dakota and Western Oregon in the preseason.

“It was a very hard week for him last week in the Bay Area but he came to practice on Monday and had some fire in his eyes,” Pope said. “He just refused to let that be him. He’s carrying a lot on his shoulders and he was certainly great tonight. Dallin took what Saint Mary’s gave him and he did it probably better than any guard that I’ve had in the four years I’ve coached here.”

Traore added 11 points and eight rebounds and Spencer Johnson had nine on three 3-pointers. With the three suspensions, sophomore guard Trey Stewart and walk-on junior forward Tradyn Christensen were called into service and performed well.

“Obviously it’s just a really tough, disappointing end to a terrific game against a great team,” Pope said. “This Saint Mary’s team is dominating our league right now and they’re playing at an elite level. I thought our guys competed in every way and made big plays down the stretch. We made a couple of really nice comeback runs and answered the bell in all the ways except for except for getting stuck in the last 10 seconds.”

Logan Johnson led Saint Mary’s (8-0 WCC, 19-4 overall) with 14 points. Alex Ducas scored 12, Mitchell Saxen 11, Mahaney 10 (all in the second half) and Augustas Marciulionis 10 (all in the first half).

The Gaels have won 10 games in a row and remain on top of the West Coast Conference.

Saint Mary’s led by eight, 51-43, after a 3-point play from Saxen with 5:56 to play but BYU roared back with a 14-2 run. A Traore block turned into a 3-pointer from Spencer Johnson on the other end for a 52-51 Cougars lead. Logan Johnson scored on a drive for the Gaels to give his team a 53-52 advantage but Spencer Johnson again found an opening and splashed another triple for a 55-53 BYU lead with 2:15 to go.

Logan Johnson tied the game at 55 on a driving shot at the 1:48 mark. The Cougars had possession of the ball with 23.1 seconds to play (17 seconds on the shot clock) and Hall was fouled driving to the basket. Hall, who was 3 of 6 from the line overall, missed the first and made the second to set up the final excruciating moments.

It was yet another shattering defeat for BYU against a ranked opponent in the Marriott Center, lining up along side a 75-74 loss to then-No. 8 Gonzaga on January 12.

“I thought Fous was actually terrific (on the last play),” Pope said. “He contained penetration, and he stayed down. He made Mahaney take a two feet, off-the-pivot fall away. It’s a really complicated matchup. Fous is super twisted up because he doesn’t want to have a great effort, he wants to have a game-winning effort.

“It’s so painful to think about because we had the exact same situation with Gonzaga. The result was the same which is just so brutal, but the execution of our guys in terms of being present and mindful of executing orders was 1,000 times better.”

All three suspended players were on the bench Saturday and are expected to be available for next week’s games.

BYU (4-5, 14-10) has lost three games in a row and remains at the Marriott Center next week for contests against Loyola Marymount and Pacific.

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