BYU has established a reputation this season for being a strong team in the second half with an incredible ability to close games.
But that did not happen on Wednesday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse. As a result, the Cougars saw their four-game winning streak broken by Pepperdine, 76-73.
BYU left Malibu having suffered its worst defeat – a setback in Quad 3 – of the Mark Pope era. This is the first time BYU has released a Quad 3 game under Pope’s command.
Entering the contest, Pepperdine was ranked 152 in the NET ranking with BYU in 28th place. It was also the Cougars’ first loss to the Waves since 2017.
Pope blamed himself.
“I am super disappointed. It was disgusting coaching work, ”he said. “Pepperdine is a very good team. We know that. They are really talented and extremely well prepared and well trained. (Coach) Lorenzo (Romar) does a great job. And I did a terrible job tonight. This is the end result. “
The Cougars were crossing, building an 11-point lead, 44-33, at the start of the second half, after a couple of free throws from Brandon Averette.
That was when things slowly fell apart for the cougars.
Pepperdine’s first advantage came with 12:12 remaining in the game, 49-48, as part of a 19-6 streak on Wave.
In the final minutes, the game was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands nine times.
Pope warned after the 65-54 victory over Pepperdine last Saturday in Provo that it is difficult to defeat an opponent in consecutive games.
Considering that BYU was able to hold a furious rally by the Waves last Saturday in Provo, this time it was Pepperdine who made all the moves in the final moments.
“We didn’t work very well in terms of selection in terms of rebounding the ball in the final stretch,” said Pope. “We kind of got stuck. There are some really basic and fundamental pillars of the game. If you don’t do them well, you won’t perform well. I didn’t help my boys to do that very well. “
“It is very difficult to beat a Division I team so close,” said striker Kolby Lee. “It is very difficult to play with a good team like this. Very few teams do that. We should have done that, but we didn’t. “
One of the glaring statistics for BYU on Wednesday: 13 turnovers, with nine stolen. These twists led to 11 Pepperdine points.
“I was putting my guys in bad situations. I am putting the guys in situations where they are trying to penetrate the gap when there is no gap. It’s a bad idea, ”said Pope. “I’m making the guys post footprints in the wrong position with the wrong fight. This causes us problems. I’m pressing these guys to make a transition when we shouldn’t be. Most of it is up to me. … Turnover was a big problem for us. It’s super disheartening. We don’t manage well. “
“There were many times when we weren’t making the right pass or they would double you and we weren’t making the simple moves we make in each game,” said Lee.
Lee also pointed to his team’s recovery struggles.
The smaller Waves caught the same number of rebounds as the Cougars – 36. Pepperdine had 11 offensive boards, which were crucial at the end of the game. Jan Zidek’s withdrawal from the Waves with 1:02 left, giving Pepperdine a 73-71 lead, hurt the Cougars’ chances of winning.
Waves received three offensive rebounds during a stretch in the final minutes, keeping the possessions alive for Pepperdine.
“From the beginning, they were more physical than us, which should never happen to our team this year. We have many large bodies. It’s unacceptable, honestly, ”said Lee. I don’t remember the last time we were beaten in a game. I’m (annoyed) because we usually outperform every team we play and we’re proud of it. This is something that makes me super frustrated. ”
Losing 76-73, BYU had a chance to tie the game, but Alex Barcello’s 3-point basket in the corner missed the target with nine seconds remaining.
Barcello sported a mouth guard on Wednesday after chipping a tooth against the Pepperdine team (7-7, 3-2) last Saturday in Provo.
Wednesday, the cougars (13-4, 4-2) dropped an impressive 18 out of 19 free throws. But they fought in the 3-point range, hitting just 5 out of 20. Overall, BYU hit 44% of the ground.
Spencer Johnson led the Cougars with 15 points, while Barcello had 12, Caleb Lohner added 11 and Richard Harward contributed 10. For Pepperdine, Colbey Ross scored a game with 19 points, while Kessler Edwards had 18. Zidek added 13 and Sedrick Altman finished with 11.
BYU’s next scheduled game is Tuesday in San Diego. The Cougars’ game with San Francisco, originally scheduled for Saturday in Provo, has been delayed due to COVID-19’s problems with the Gifts.