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BYU basketball: Cougars play tough but fall to Alabama

By Nathan Cunningham

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 09: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 9, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 09: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 9, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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BYU basketball played tough on Friday afternoon, but the shooters were cold and the Cougars fell to the No. 25 Alabama Crimson Tide, 71-59.

There were moments when it looked like BYU basketball was going to take over. Extended stretches where the Cougars managed to out play the Crimson Tide. But the Cougars struggled to hit open shots – especially from 3-point range, and Alabama came away with a hard-fought win.

BYU shot just 38 percent on the day, including a 23.5 percent mark from 3-point range. Still, even with the poor shooting, the Cougars fell by just 12.

Yoeli Childs led the way for the Cougars, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The only problem was that Childs did very little in the second half (he scored 15 of his points in the first 20 minutes).

No other player for BYU scored in double figures.

Defensively, the Cougars did heed our warning about Collin Sexton. The projected top-five NBA draft pick scored just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

It’s tough to feel down about the way the Cougars played in the Barclays Center Classic on Friday. Sure, the scoreboard didn’t show a BYU victory. But there’s no shame in losing to a Top 25 team.

It reminds me a lot of BYU’s loss to USC last season. The Cougars played well and the hope was that the team would learn something from the loss and get better.

It didn’t really happen last season. Can it this year?

All in all, BYU basketball’s two losses were to NCAA Tournament teams. While no one had exceedingly high expectations for the Cougars, the hope was that they could make a bit of noise in non-conference play.

It’s difficult to play games on back-to-back days, but that’s the task the Cougars have. If they play with the intensity demonstrated against the Crimson Tide, they can beat UMass. But there’s no telling what role fatigue might play.

For the most part, we’ll need to see how BYU’s shooters respond. You’re not winning many games shooting 38 percent – but poor shooting is becoming a bit of a trend this season.

Three Things We Learned

1. BYU basketball can hang with the big dogs. Alabama is a legitimate team, and Sexton will be a force to be reckoned with this season. At the very least, the Cougars showed they had some toughness and grit in them.

2. The Cougars need to shoot better. Real ground-breaking analysis, I know. But BYU needs to shoot better to win these games. We talked all offseason about the scoring options the Cougars had, but it isn’t working for them right now. They need to fix it.

3. The top of the West Coast Conference is in flux. St. Mary’s suffered a terrible loss to Washington State on Friday morning. Had the Cougars completed their comeback, there’s a chance BYU would be considered one of the top two teams in the conference. Still, it shows the Gaels aren’t invincible.

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