With a game abruptly canceled earlier in the week and four long days on the road, BYU coach Mark Pope apparently capitalized on having some free time and decided to tinker with his starting team.
Prior to Thursday’s game in Portland, Pope transferred junior Gideon George and freshman Caleb Lohner from off-bench roles to titleholder in place of Trevin Knell and Kolby Lee.
And on his first career start, George enjoyed a career night at the Chiles Center.
The 1.80 m tall Nigerian native scored 19 points, his career record in 8 of 12 pitches from the ground, received 13 rebounds, made three assists, managed two steals and made no comeback – just 21 minutes of action.
George overcame the Drivers alone, 13-12, as part of an almost perfect team performance while the Cougars sprayed the Drivers 105-60.
“He has been wonderful for our team. He’s growing up. He did a good job taking advantage of the opportunities he had, ”Pope told BYU Radio Network. “Clearly, we have known for a long time that it has a huge roof. This is another really positive step for him. It is a joy to have in all facets of our program. “
This marked George’s second double-double career as Puma. He had 13 points and 15 rebounds against St. John’s back in December. George is simply living his dream.
“In Nigeria, I used to stay up all night to watch NCAA games and NBA games,” said George. “Being able to play here now is a blessing for me and my friends who are watching me at home. I’m not taking anything for granted. “
George found out on Wednesday that he would be starting. What did Pope say to him?
“He just wanted me to hit the ball and play basketball,” said George. “I was ready to go.”
Yes he was. In the first half, he scored 10 points and dropped six bags.
For Lohner, it was the fifth start of his career and the first since December. He had one of his best games of the season, contributing 11 points (out of 4 out of 5 shots) and catching six rebounds.
Pope got the production he was looking for from Lohner and George when he changed the starting lineup, knowing that a major showdown with No. 1 Gonzaga at the Marriott Center is approaching Monday night.
“It’s kind of that point in the season when these younger guys, it’s time for them to step up,” said Pope. “There were some reflections on the rescheduling of the Zags game and some on the progress they are making and some on the opportunity they had to feel like starting a game. I was very proud of these guys for responding. ”
BYU, coming from an exciting double win in overtime over the Pacific last Saturday before seeing Tuesday’s game in San Diego canceled hours before the report, making up for lost time. The Cougars vented some frustration in humble Portland.
BYU (15-4, 6-2) dominated this game in every way possible.
Cougars outnumbered pilots 46-12.
“We were great hitting the ball as a group,” said Pope.
BYU overtook Portland by 48-16. The Cougars hit 63% of the ground and hit 15 of 24 out of 3 points. And they had 22 assists in 42 baskets made.
OK, now we interrupt this analysis to put this BYU victory in perspective.
Portland (6-11, 0-8) has already lost nine consecutive games overall. The besieged Pilots are now 1-48 in their last 49 games against opponents from the West Coast Conference. BYU has now won 11 straight over Portland, which dates back to 2016.
Still, the cougars did what they needed to do – and more.
Including George and Lohner, BYU saw six players score double digits. Matt Haarms finished with 15 points and six rebounds. After scoring all nine of his field goals in last month’s victory over Portland, he hit 6 out of 9 on Thursday.
Brandon Averette also scored 15 points and conceded five assists. Alex Barcello had 12 points, three rebounds and four assists. Connor Harding scored 12 points out of 5 out of 6 field shots. Knell scored nine points out of 3 out of 4 points out of 3 and received five rebounds. Spencer Johnson had eight points, including a pair of 3s.
BYU opened the game early with a 10-0 streak that included 3s from Haarms and Knell who gave a 23-11 lead. The Cougars closed the range in a 14-0 run to take a 52-30 lead to the locker room at halftime. At that point, BYU had hit 20 out of 30 pitches, including 7 out of 11 out of 3.
In the second half, the Cougars continued to move away from Portland and ended up leading by up to 47.
George’s performance was certainly a good sign for a BYU team looking to make their first appearance at the NCAA tournament in six years.
Two of George’s statistics that stood out the most for Pope? First, without rotation.
“That was my favorite number of the night,” said Pope. “We spent a lot of time – him, me and coach (Nick) Robinson together – watching all of his minutes in every game, breaking every second on the floor. We have emphasized three things. The most important of them is, if he takes care of that ball, it will extend his minutes. He’s really working on it, trying to make good decisions on the court and he certainly did tonight. Zero turnovers is a spectacular number that is super important to our team. “
The other impressive number? George overtaking Portland alone, 13-12.
“I’ve never seen that statistic in my life,” said Pope. “He hit the entire (other) team for one. This is amazing. He was spectacular tonight. “