Analysis: No. 18 BYU’s steep Big 12 learning curve continues in ‘competitive’ 81-72 loss at No. 14 Baylor
WACO, Texas — For all of the first half and the first glorious few minutes of the second half, it appeared that BYU belonged on the same court, and in the same league, as No. 14 Baylor.
The Cougars took a six-point halftime lead, stretched it to nine on a couple 3-pointers by Trevin Knell, and had the sellout crowd of 7,500 at brand new Foster Pavilion on edge.
“Yeah, that is probably a question, well, I would love to give you the answer I really think, but I won’t.” — BYU basketball coach Mark Pope on why Baylor got to the free-throw line twice as many times as BYU in Bears’ 81-72 victory.
But this inaugural season in the Big 12 is going to feature a lot of learning moments for coach Mark Pope’s team, and the final 15 minutes provided plenty of those.
The Bears began exploiting BYU’s weaknesses, just as Cincinnati did last Saturday, and rolled to a harder-than-it-looks 81-72 win over the No. 18 Cougars, who let a golden opportunity for a statement-making upset slip away.
“I was proud of my guys. They fought hard. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I am really proud of them,” Pope said. “I thought they put a ton of fight into it. We could have executed a little bit better on the offensive and defensive end down the stretch.”
There were all sorts of reasons why BYU (0-2, 12-3) didn’t get its first Big 12 win while suffering its seventh-straight road loss — dating back to last February — but the biggest can be summed up in one word: turnovers.
Baylor (2-0, 13-2) turned 14 BYU turnovers into 18 points, while turning the ball over only five times themselves.
“You are going to win a lot of games when you only turn it over five times,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew.
After giving the ball away 18 times in the 71-60 loss to Cincy — which lost 75-74 to No. 25 Texas on Tuesday — the Cougars were mildly better in a much tougher environment, but not enough better to keep pace down the stretch.
BYU entered Big 12 play averaging fewer than nine turnovers a game.
“I think it is the level of competition — there is going to be a level of regression,” Pope acknowledged. “For the next 18 games, we are playing top 25 teams, so it is more of an even playing field. And it is only our second game on the road.
“So that is going to be something we are going to grow into, that we are really excited about growing into.
“One of the beautiful things about being in this league and in our first year is we get to kind of figure this out and grow into this, and we will. I got guys that are really devoted and dedicated and together, so we will keep going.”
For BYU, there are a lot of positives to take away from its first Big 12 road game. The Cougars made more field goals — 26 to 25 — than Baylor and had the lead for 18 minutes and 56 seconds. The Bears had the advantage for 18:28.
The Cougars threw a good scare into a program that won the national championship in 2021, and coach Scott Drew knew it.
“Well, just another Big 12 game,” Drew said with a sigh as he sat down at the podium in the postgame news conference.
“BYU is extremely hard to guard,” Drew said later. “They are a team nobody wants to play, and coach Pope is doing a nice job. … We knew BYU is a great team. They aren’t going anywhere.”
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The Cougars played a fantastic first half for the second-straight game, taking a 39-33 lead at the break despite being in foul trouble.
Trevin Knell, Noah Waterman and Dallin Hall all had two fouls in the first half as Baylor enjoyed a 9-3 foul disparity at one point.
The Cougars ended the first half on a 13-3 run, pulling in front after the Bears had a 30-26 lead going into the under four minute media timeout.
Jaxson Robinson ended the half with a 3-point play to finish the first 20 minutes with 10 points, then didn’t score in the second half. He played more point guard than he has all season, with mixed results.
“I thought he was really good for being thrown in the fire after just one day of practice,” Pope said. “He got some reps at the (point) earlier in the season. I thought he responded well in a great environment on the road. He’s got the capability of really making a huge impact at the point as well as the two and the three.”
BYU outscored Baylor 20-8 in the paint in the first half, after giving up 50 points in the paint to Cincinnati in Saturday’s loss.
In the second half, however, the Bears attacked more, got to the free-throw line more, and finished with 22 points in the paint.
With Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark looking on, Baylor enjoyed a big advantage at the free-throw line. Baylor was 21 of 28 from the line, while BYU was 11 of 14 and didn’t shoot a free throw in the second half until 2:45 remained in the game.
Asked why BYU couldn’t keep Baylor off the free-throw line, or out of the bonus early in both halves, Pope replied: “Yeah, that is probably a question, well, I would love to give you the answer I really think, but I won’t.”
Home cooking?
Pope’s frustration over what he perceived to be one-sided officiating boiled over with 54 seconds left when the Cougars had a Baylor player with the ball surrounded by three guys, but were whistled for a foul. He slammed a water bottle on the scorer’s table in disgust, and was hit with a technical foul.
The Bears stretched a 75-70 lead to 79-70 with four free throws, and that was that.
Jalen Bridges led Baylor with a game-high 25 points, going 8 of 9 from the free-throw line and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Spencer Johnson and Knell had 15 apiece for BYU.
“It is our job right now is to really break into that (propensity for fouling) and see how we could have done better and kept them off the free-throw line,” Pope said. “… What we are going to do is we are really going to dig into the film, and really, really try and find the avenue of how we can pacify the whistle a little bit. That can be a very complicated thing.”
BYU led 57-54 with around 10 minutes remaining, but Baylor went on a 7-0 run — fueled by three straight buckets from Bridges, Jayden Nunn and Langston Love — to take control, and BYU started pressing offensively in the final eight minutes as another Big 12 game slipped away down the stretch.
It was another lesson learned for Pope’s team. BYU has to figure out how to play consistently and on point for 40 minutes, or what happened in Waco will happen time and time again.
BYU played without UC Irvine transfer Dawson Baker, who didn’t make the trip due to lingering issues with his foot. Pope said the guard’s foot is “not getting better” and that he will be reexamined by doctors again Wednesday. There’s a strong possibility Baker will have to take a redshirt year.
“We will make a final decision here in the next day or so,” Pope said.
