BYU Basketball: Cougars save Senior Night with great 2nd half

Honestly, in the first half of Saturday’s BYU-Saint Mary’s Senior Night at the Marriott Center, there wasn’t much to write.

Fortunately for the cougars, it turned out to be another memorable Senior Night.

Everything is fine when it ends well.

Last February, BYU’s epic turn with No. 2 Gonzaga sparked a mad robbery in the courtroom on the Night of the Third Age.

A year later, the Cougars overcame a slow start to defeat Saint Mary’s, 65-51, in front of a crowd of just under 2,000.

“We have Special Nights for Seniors, don’t we?” said coach Mark Pope. “It was a different feeling than last year.”

Yes it was.

In the first half, it was especially difficult on the offensive side for the three seniors – Alex Barcello, Matt Haarms and Brandon Averette.

The trio combined to hit 0 out of 11 in the first half, while the Cougars advanced with 23 points.

But in the second half, these veterans helped to change things quickly.

Meanwhile, sophomore Trevin Knell took advantage of the big night, setting a career record with 15 points, including 4 out of 5 in the 3-point range.

In the second half, Averette, Haarms and Barcello combined to make 10 of 15 on the floor and they combined to score 26 points.

The Cougars hit nine of their first 12 shots in the second half, taking their first double-digit lead in the game.

As a team, BYU scored 42 points in the final 20 minutes. While the Cougars hit 23% in the first half, they hit 67% in the second half, including 5 out of 6 out of 3 points.

“We remain aggressive,” said Averette. “We are going.”

So, what happened in the first half?

“It was the whole Senior Night vibe. It was a little weird, ”said Averette. “We knew the shots would end up falling on us.”

For the game, Haarms ended with 11 points, a season record with 10 rebounds and five blocks (all blocks occurred in the first half). In addition, Haarms eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in his university career, including three seasons at Purdue, and now has 1,004 points.

Averette obtained 11 points and four assists. Barcello – two nights after recording a career-high scoring performance with 29 points and 7 out of 7 shots from the 3-point territory – had eight points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.

Gideon George contributed 11 points and got three points out of 3.

The veterans were honored before Saturday’s game, as expected. Then, with 51 seconds remaining, Pope checked the three veterans out of the game for yet another ovation.

After the game, Pope staged an impromptu post-game celebration. First, he addressed the crowd, thanking fans for their support throughout the season. He talked about the elderly.

“The time will come, when appropriate, to recruit them for another year,” said Pope.

As the NCAA paused the eligibility of all players this season due to the pandemic, the three could technically return for another season.

So Pope spent time for the three elderly people to share their feelings at the end of the Night of the Third Age, which caught them off guard. But they spoke from the heart. They expressed their gratitude for everything that happened this season and also looked to the future.

“Business is not over,” said Barcello.

With the victory, the Cougars (19-5, 10-3) won their fourth consecutive game and won second place in the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The first half seemed to have been planned in the laboratory of Saint Mary’s coach, Randy Bennett.

From the beginning, BYU played straight into the hands of Saint Mary (13-8, 4-6) while the Gaelic made the game worse.

Saint Mary’s opened the game with 1 of 10 pitches from the ground, but only lost 6-5 at the start. The Gaels ended their previous game with Cougars 1 out of 12 shots and then had a difficult start on Saturday.

But BYU didn’t shoot much better. While Knell hit some 3-point points, BYU’s first 2-point field goal did not come until the 9:33 mark of the first half on a George hit. It was also the Cougars’ first starting point.

At the break, BYU led 23-18. The Cougars hit 7 out of 30 pitches in the first half. BYU and Saint Mary’s combined for 50 rebounds at halftime.

Former BYU coach Dave Rose, who suffered a stroke on New Year’s Eve, attended Saturday’s game.

Altogether, it was another memorable night of BYU’s last year.

“I have a deep affection for these three elderly people,” said Pope.