BYU opens the regular season with a bang.
The new-look Cougars rolled to a 94-83 victory over Ohio State on Monday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, shaking off a slow start to put together one of the best offensive outings of the Kevin Young era.
3 takeaways
BYU overcame early shooting woes for a strong offensive performance. The Cougars started the night making just 3 of their first 13 field goal attempts, including a 1-of-8 start from 3-point range.
However, the lid came off in a major way, as BYU shot 64% from the field and 63% from deep over the final 30 minutes of play.
Trailing by two midway through the second half, the Cougars made 12 of 14 shots down the stretch to secure the 11-point victory.
In total, BYU averaged 1.4 points per possession, including a blistering 1.8 PPP mark in the second half. Perhaps most impressive, the Cougars coughed up just eight total turnovers in 67 possessions, an especially encouraging performance considering the number of new players in the rotation.
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Rob Wright III is one of the best players in the country. BYU’s star point guard was outstanding last year and he made a loud statement Monday about the potential jump he could make in his junior campaign.
Wright scored a game-high 33 points against Ohio State, shooting 60 percent from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range. He also dished out five assists against one turnover.
After the Cougars trailed by 11 points in the first half, Wright scored 10 points in eight minutes to help cut BYU’s deficit to just three points at halftime.
Nineteen of Wright’s 33 points came in the second half, where he hit all four of his triples and set the tone for the Cougars’ late offensive onslaught.
Wright earned preseason All-America voting and is a legitimate candidate for Big 12 Player of the Year honors. He showed exactly why on Monday.
BYU’s defense is still a work in progress. Young said after the game that the Cougars offered “more good than bad” on the defensive end, and such an assessment is entirely true.
BYU played scrappy and gave adequate effort, forcing 12 Buckeye turnovers and scoring 11 points, but there were still a few frustrating defensive breakdowns here and there, as well as the lack of solid rim protection leading to 38 paint points for Ohio State as part of a total of 83 points and 49% shooting.
During a second half, the Cougars held the Buckeyes without a field goal for nearly six minutes. Unfortunately for BYU, this came immediately after Ohio State’s 12-of-14 shooting streak from the floor.
That pretty much sums up the defensive nature of the night’s ups and downs.
That being said, good things will happen for the Cougars on defense if they maintain this level of effort. The main focus of their non-conference slate should be discovering their defensive identity, and Monday gave them a solid starting point, even if the results weren’t exceptional.
Gn sports
