“In the first half we almost were a little too much energy and intensity. Yeah, it was fun.”īYU finished shooting a respectable 12 of 31 from 3-point range (38%), but it was Traore’s dominance inside that OSU coach Mike Boynton said proved too tough for the Cowboys (4-14, 12-19) to overcome.Īly Khalifa’s three 3-pointers were also big The 6-11 Muslim will begin his Ramadan observance Sunday night as the Islamic holy month begins with a smile on his face knowing he posted another sensational game with nine points, three assists and four rebounds in 15 minutes. “We stayed on our toes and attacked their press and we kept shooting and we were rebounding. ![]() We didn’t get on our heels,” Johnson said. He was hitting shots from everywhere, but I felt like we responded well. Justin McBride’s 3-point play pulled OSU to within 10, 67-57, with 6:12 remaining, causing many to remember Kansas State coach Jerome Tang’s statement that BYU’s style of offensive play always lets teams back into games.įouss Traore (team-high 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting) took over, along with Johnson and Richie Saunders, who hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 left to seal it. The Cougars led 62-37 after a Robinson jumper with 10:10 remaining. They went on a couple runs, but we slowed them down and we came out with a win.”īYU led 32-29 at halftime after never having the lead in last month’s 93-83 loss in Stillwater, then opened the second half on a 16-2 run to take control. “I think we did a really great job of just staying focused on the task at hand. Obviously a lot of emotion going into the game with it being Senior Night for me and Spence (and Tredyn Christensen),” Robinson said. A lot depends on his NBA draft prospects. It was probably the last game for Robinson, too, although the senior has another year remaining if he wants it. “We aren’t finished yet,” Johnson said after a double-double: 14 points and 10 rebounds in his final game in the Marriott Center. He was talking about being able to walk on the court before the game with his wife, Issy, and two-week old son, Joey, to be honored on Senior Night, but he could have easily been describing the season, which he was quick to say is far from over. That was pretty special,” senior guard Spencer Johnson said. Definitely a lot of hard work paid off right there in that moment. Saturday night was about celebrating a season that few saw coming when BYU was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Big 12 in preseason polls. MST Wednesday.īreakfast and then some basketball - maybe not good news for a team that, much like BYU’s football team, seems to play better at night than during the day. The Cougars will face the winner of Tuesday’s UCF-Oklahoma State first-round game at 10:30 a.m. 7 Kansas continues to pay dividends.īYU could be seeing Oklahoma State - which kept the game reasonably close with Javon Small’s 34-point outburst, including an eye-popping 29 in the second half - again on Wednesday at T-Mobile Center. ![]() ![]() 1 Houston on Saturday, but the Cougars will get the better seed based on head-to-head competition. Kansas also finished 10-8 after getting crushed by No. “We are just desperate to play as many, many games as we can because we don’t want it to end.” 5 seed for next week’s conference tournament in Kansas City. “These guys are so special, man,” Pope said after BYU improved to 10-8 in Big 12 play, 22-9 overall, and clinched the No. This tie-for-fifth-place finish, accomplished with Saturday night’s solid 85-71 victory over Oklahoma State in front of a sellout crowd of 17,978 at the Marriott Center on Senior Night, certainly feels a whole lot better for coach Mark Pope’s squad. A year ago at this time, the BYU men’s basketball team was finishing fifth in the West Coast Conference, getting bounced from the league tournament in the semifinals and wondering just how bad it could get in its first season in the powerful Big 12.
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