The following notes are from BYU's 82-71 loss to Gonzaga on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, at Marriot Center in Provo, UT.
ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS: Gonzaga leads 20-7
TEAM NOTES
Slow Start and Turnovers
Gonzaga got out to an early lead, 13-2. Four BYU turnovers played a significant role in the slow start, with six additional turnovers coming later in the first half. The Bulldogs scored 13 points off those giveaways in the first half. The Cougars finished with 19 turnovers and Gonzaga had 12, with Gonzaga outscoring BYU 26-9 in points off turnovers.
Strong Finish to the First Half
Following the 13-2 deficit at the beginning of the first half, the Cougars then outscored the Bulldogs 29-26 for the remaining 16:48 of the half.
Second-Half Scoring Runs
After a 20-8 Gonzaga run halfway through the second half, BYU answered back with their own 8-0 run. BYU again went on a scoring run in the final seconds to cut the lead to single digits, 78-69, but the Zags scored the final two of the game to get to a double-digit victory.
Averette 1000 Career Points
With the Cougars’ first basket of the game, Brandon Averette hit 1,000 points scored in his collegiate career. Averette finished the night with 14 points. He is currently averaging 11.3 PPG and has scored 228 of those 1,000 points during his senior year with BYU.
PLAYER NOTES
Alex Barcello
Alex Barcello led BYU in scoring with 20 points. It was the eighth time Barcello has had 20+ points in a game this season. Barcello also recorded four rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Brandon Averette
While reaching 1000 career points, Averette joined Barcello and Johnson as the three Cougars to hit double digits in the game. He had 14 points, and also led the team in assists with six, one short of his season high.
Caleb Lohner
Caleb Lohner led the Cougars in rebounding, totaling eight.
COACH AND PLAYER QUOTES
Mark Pope
On the game
“I’m really proud of our guys. We had some things that we didn’t do well and some areas of the game where we struggled. With the exception of about four or five minutes I thought we fought really hard and tried to compete. We have to continue to work hard and get better. That’s the agenda at hand.
The start of the game was tricky for us as was a stretch in the second half where there was some dysfunction out there, where we missed some defensive assignments. I felt like for 30 minutes of the game we were at least recognizable to ourselves, and the game’s 40 minutes. We need to figure some things out. We’ll keep growing and we’ll get there."
On Turnovers
"You turn the ball over 19 times against Gonzaga, and the game’s going to be really hard."
On finding replacement games this week
"We’ll hit the phones hard in the morning and see if we can find something that works for us right now."
Alex Barcello
On this Gonzaga team
“Gonzaga is a high-talented team. Everyone on their team is a playmaker. They’re very fast in transition. They share the ball really well. From our end, we can’t lose our fight. We lost our fight in the second half for about a six-minute stretch. We can’t lose our fight throughout the entire game.”
On what changed after Zags started 15-2
“I thought we responded really well, actually. We started not making those mental mistakes, we started crashing the glass harder, and we started playing more physical."
On COVID shuffling the schedule and managing your focus
“It’s extremely hard at some points. Especially after losses, we’ve got to be able to bounce back. We’ve got to be able to flip the page the next day and focus on where we can get better. Whether we play on Thursday or Saturday, whatever happens, we’ve got to get better tomorrow.
We’ve got to be present tomorrow. We’ve got to be locked in at practice and we’ve got to learn from today. Our goal is to be one of the best teams in the country and make a run in the NCAA Tournament. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to work on and improve on in order to be at that level."