BYU basketball: Cougars fall to Pacific on the road 67-66

Missed opportunities cost BYU basketball against the Pacific Tigers on Saturday night in Malibu, California. The loss is a sour one for the Cougar Cagers.

It was sloppy, it was nasty, it was gutsy.

Throughout the season, it was the type of game BYU basketball usually won. But on Saturday night, against the Pacific Tigers, the Cougar Cagers didn’t have enough.

Yoeli Childs had a chance to tie the game at 65 with 25 seconds left, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Tigers hit two at the free-throw line on the other end, taking a 67-63 lead.

Elijah Bryant hit a deep 3-pointer on the ensuing Cougar possession, closing the gap to 67-66, but it wasn’t enough. Pacific’s Jack Williams would miss both of his free throws, giving BYU a chance to win it with about 14 seconds left.

Jahshire Hardnett took a heavily contested layup after the Tigers did a good job of denying Bryant. The ball bobbled around and was tipped by a Tiger into the arms of Zac Seljaas.

Seljaas tipped the ball in, but was just a fraction of a second short. After review, the refs waived it off.

For BYU basketball, it’s a devastating loss – one that potentially knocks the Cougars off the bubble. We’ve been saying for weeks that if the Cougar Cagers could simply beat all the teams not named Gonzaga or St. Mary’s, then all would be well come March.

Now, things are much different.

Perhaps the most alarming thing isn’t the loss, but how the Tigers did it. The Cougars had no answer for dribble penetration, particularly from Jahlil Tripp. If you read our preview, you knew Tripp was an incredible athlete – and that was on full display on Saturday.

The sophomore scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

For BYU, Elijah Bryant led the way with 29 points. Yoeli Childs added 13. No other Cougar reached double figures.

Next up for the Cougars is a home meeting with Pepperdine on Thursday.