3 keys to Oklahoma’s 82-66 win over No. 21 BYU
NORMAN, Oklahoma — Cold-shooting BYU ran out of gas Tuesday night in the second of a two-game road trip and fell 82-66 to unranked Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in a pivotal Big 12 battle.
No. 21 BYU shot 36% from the field, missing many point-blank shots at the rim, and fell to 4-5 in Big 12 play, 16-6 overall.
Oklahoma (5-5, 17-6) shot much better — 49% — and got 20 points from Javian McCollum and 16 points from Milos Uzan to get the runaway win.
OU broke from a 34-34 halftime tie with a 9-of-26 performance from the 3-point line and 23 of 29 outing from the free-throw line.
Here are three keys to Oklahoma’s win:
• BYU shot 31% from 3-point range, a number that would usually spell out a Cougars’ win, but they just didn’t shoot enough of them, apparently. They were 8 of 26 after entering the game leading the country in made 3-pointers at nearly 13 a game.
Dallin Hall made his first four 3-point attempts for BYU, then missed his final three.
• The Cougars have been one of the country’s best 2-point shooting teams, but on this night they missed a lot of bunnies, easy shots at the rim. Some of them were hurried, as OU’s size and athleticism bothered BYU throughout the night.
BYU finished 15 of 38 on 2-pointers.
• BYU was shorthanded inside, as big man Aly Khalifa missed his second-straight game due to illness and injury. Atiki Ally Atiki came in early off the bench but picked up two fouls before the under 12 media timeout in the first half, forcing Fouss Traore into extended minutes.
Atiki picked up his third foul with 3:47 left in the first half, then his fourth foul with 15:16 remaining in the game.
Traore, who had a season-high 24 points in the win over West Virginia, carried BYU offensively in the first half but struggled in the second and finished with 21 points on 9 of 17 shooting.
