BYU Basketball: Reviewing a rollercoaster 2017-18 season
By Shaun Gordon
Conference Letdown
WCC play started for the Cougars in a similar fashion to their non-conference schedule. They manhandled Portland to tip off conference play, extending their winning streak to nine games.
The streak would stop there, though. BYU hosted St. Mary’s and took the Gaels to overtime before falling 74-64. It was a golden opportunity for a marquee win that the Cougars couldn’t quite grasp.
After beating a pesky San Fransisco team, BYU got its first head-scratching loss. They fell at Pacific by a singe point, 67-66.
BYU Cougars Basketball
That loss looked more like an aberration than a pattern, as the Cougars went on to win their next four games in convincing fashion, before heading to Moraga for their rematch with St. Mary’s.
The outcome was the same as it was in Provo. The Cougars hung tough for 35 minutes, but faltered down the stretch for their third conference loss of the season. BYU did manage to get their revenge against Pacific before the wheels fell off.
The Cougars must have been looking past Loyola Marymount, one of the WCC cellar-dwellers, because they came out flat and stayed that way. The 76-69 loss to the Lions effectively ended whatever slight NCAA Tournament at-large hopes they had.
They followed that up with their first loss in four seasons to Gonzaga in The Kennel. It was another tight game that the Cougars couldn’t close out.
BYU won three straight before another flat road performance, this time at San Diego. Then after beating Portland, the Cougars got their second shot at Gonzaga. The second time around was worse than the first. The Bulldogs completely blew out BYU in the second half, coasting easily to a 79-65 win.
After a promising non-conference slate, the Cougars finished conference play 11-7, with a miserable 4-5 road record.
And they found themselves in a familiar spot: third place.