BYU basketball: Mavericks massacre Cougars in NIT rematch
BYU basketball was stymied by UT-Arlington’s zone defense and got blown out by the Mavericks on the Marriott Center floor for the second time in as many games.
BYU basketball had a shot at revenge on Saturday night, hosting the UT-Arlington Mavericks for the first time since UT-A dominated the Cougars in the NIT last season.
The Cougars were coming off a solid win against Princeton, so it seemed like momentum would be on their side.
If it was, it didn’t last long.
UT-A battled BYU basketball to a 15-15 tie before blowing the doors off. Just like last March, Kevin Hervey and Erick Neal ran roughshod over the Cougars. The duo combined for 44 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds.
In the first half, BYU had plenty of good looks, but nothing fell. In the second half, those good looks were eliminated by a lanky and active Mavericks defense. Overall, the Cougars shot just 22 percent from 3-point range.
This game seems like a good learning experience for the Cougars, but it’s tough to determine that until we’ve seen another month or so of basketball. Ideally the team takes something from this moving forward – with a coach like Heath Schroyer on the staff, that certainly seems likely.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for BYU basketball was Dalton Nixon. Nixon had a career night for the Cougars, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Even though the 89-75 score doesn’t look quite as bad as you might think, the Cougars made their run in garbage time. For most of the second half the Mavericks were leading by 20 or so.
Not to sugar coat the loss, but it certainly appears that UT-A has a really strong team this year. Last year the Mavericks probably should’ve been in the NCAA Tournament and this season they look just as strong. Hervey is an NBA prospect (six scouts were at the Marriott Center to check him out) and the team is led by talented upperclassmen.
Next up for BYU is a home contest against the Niagara Eagles (1-1).
Three things we learned
Elijah Bryant is perfect after all. Bryant had been hyper-effective shooting the rock for BYU basketball this season while averaging 24.5 points per game. But he came back down to earth against UT-A, going just 3-for-14.
Shooters need to hit shots. The Cougars have plenty of shooters on the roster. However, those players need to hit shots. BYU isn’t going to win many games this season shooting 22 percent from 3-point range. TJ Haws, Zac Seljaas and Bryant need to hit their open looks.
Don’t overreact. This is just one game. And realistically, the Cougars won’t be so ice cold all season long. For me, the most important thing is defense. If BYU is playing good defense, then the scoring droughts will be okay (see the Princeton game). Unfortunately, points were too easy to come by for the Mavericks. Still, the season is young. The Cougars will bounce back.