The following notes are from BYU's 73-51 win over Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, at the Marriott Center.
ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS: BYU leads 16-6
TEAM NOTES
First Half
The Cougars got off to another hot start shooting 57 percent in the first five minutes to take a 12-5 lead. Following the hot start, BYU found themselves in a 4:30 scoring drought in which they committed four turnovers and went 0-for-3 from the field. The Cougars broke the scoreless streak with a free-throw from Gideon George with 10:19 left in the first half and proceeded to go 5-of-6 from the field to take a 23-19 with 5:04 to play.
Pacific made a contested layup with 26 seconds left to take a one-point lead. The Cougars held for the last shot of the half and turned to Alex Barcello who hit a pull-up three pointer from the top of the key to give BYU a two-point lead and put him over 1,000 points for his BYU career. When the entire arena thought the half had ended following the Barcello triple, Spencer Johnson stole the inbound pass and made a layup as time expired to give BYU a 35-31 lead at the half.
Second Half
In the first four minutes of the second half, the Cougars went 3-of-4 from the field, 3-of-3 from behind the arc and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe while holding the Tigers to four points to extend the lead to 11. BYU continued to push as they went on a 15-4 run over Pacific in a 4-minute and 37-second stretch. The Cougars scored 38 points, with 12 points coming off the bench. Te’Jon Lucas led the scoring for the Cougars in the second half with nine points shooting 3-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Five Cougars Finish in Double Figures
For just the second game this season, five Cougars scored in double figures. The only other time came against Central Methodist in a game where BYU scored 97 points as a team.
Tonight's double-figure scorers.
Alex Barcello: 15 Points, 5-of-13 FG, 3-of-5 3FG
Fousseyni Traore: 12 Points, 4-of-5 FG, 4-of-4 FT
Te’Jon Lucas: 11 Points, 4-of-7 FG, 3-of-5 3FG
Trevin Knell: 10 Points, 4-of-8 FG, 2-of-5 3FG
Seneca Knight: 11 Points, 4-of-6 FG, 2-of-2 3FG
Defense
In the first half, Pacific capitalized on eight BYU turnovers for eight points. The Cougars forced four turnovers by the Tigers and had one block going into the locker room at half.
The Cougars picked it up on the defensive end of the floor grabbing 20 defensive rebounds, forcing 10 Tiger turnovers, blocking three shots and grabbing two steals.
Rebounding
Pacific entered tonight's game as the 22nd best defensive rebounding team in the country, but the Cougars outrebounded theTigers 45-27.
PLAYER NOTES
Alex Barcello
Barcello had a career-night when he hit a 3-pointer in the last 10 seconds of the first half. This shot put him over 1,000 points for his BYU career. Barcello went 4-for-7 from three point land, which marks the 22nd time in his career that he has made three or more three-point field goals, which moves him into ninth all-time.
Fousseyni Traore
Traore started the game strong with eight points in the first half, banking both of his free throws and going 3-of-4 from the field. His defensive game was also on fire tonight with 11 rebounds and three blocks to tie his career high. Traore finished out the night as the second top-scorer for BYU with 12 points going 4-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Notable career highs/career firsts
Career-high blocks: Fousseyni Traore (3, tied)
COACH AND PLAYER QUOTES
Mark Pope on Alex Barcello
“It's really important. I'll tell you, it's such a luxury to have. We have a great, great team of great players. But it's such a luxury to have a veteran guy like Alex who you don't have to actually draw anything up for. We just ask him to get the ball and score for us, and he does that consistently. It's fun for all of us to watch.”
Pope on Fousseyni Traore
“I was really impressed with him on the glass. These are rebounds against two or three other bodies, so I think his effectiveness on the glass was terrific. He got his first big time field pressure hit corner, which is a mature play and it wasn't just a quick roll. It was a roll and a triple team, so he had to find out how to pivot and step. To see a freshman player like him making those types of sophisticated, complicated, patient plays is pretty exciting. He's been terrific and we've needed him desperately. He's carrying a big load for us right now and he did great.”
Pope on 17 assists on 25 field goals
“You know, it's hard to create shots for your teammates. It's hard mentally, it's hard physically, it's hard IQ wise, it's hard in so many different ways. It's hard to find the energy to do it right but it's part of our DNA when we function at a high level offensively, we make plays for our teammates.”
Alex Barcello Opening Statement
“I thought we did a great job tonight. We started out with some frustration in the first half, but came out of halftime and did a really good job stepping up the pace. We were able to share the ball, create for other guys and get open shots which lead to extra passes for wide open threes. So, I was really really happy with how we played tonight.”
Barcello on scoring 1,000 points at BYU
“I just saw that the guy was trailing behind me so I let it go. I didn't know that it was my 1,000th point until my teammates told me going into halftime but then my guys told me to look up at the screen. I was super hyped about that.
Barcello on upcoming St. Mary’s match-up
“It’s a physical battle, the entire 40 minutes and we will be prepared for that. We need to rest up and watch as much film as we can to prepare for it, but we know it is just going to be 40 minutes of back and forth battle and physicality.”