BYU Basketball: Reviewing a rollercoaster 2017-18 season

Postseason Turmoil

BYU played four postseason games, and those four games were a perfect microcosm of their season as a whole. The Cougars held the three seed in Las Vegas, taking on San Diego in their first WCC Tournament game.

The Toreros were without their head coach, Lamont Smith, after being placed on leave with legal matters.

After a close first half, the Cougars blew the game wide open, but foul trouble and stagnant offense allowed San Diego right back into it. BYU held on for the six-point win, but it was more stress-inducing than it should have been at the end.

Then came the masterpiece.

The Cougars took on St. Mary’s for the third time, but this time was much different from the previous two. BYU controlled the game throughout. In Dave Rose‘s best-planned game of the year, the Cougars held Jock Landale in check, and pulled away early in the second half, never looking back.

The final score was 85-72, the most dominant game against a quality opponent since Utah, but then deja vu struck in the championship game.

Just like their regular-season finale, the Cougars were able to hang with Gonzaga in the first half, but completely ran out of gas in the second, losing 74-54. It highlighted BYU’s biggest deficiency of the season: their lack of quality depth.

The Cougars did earn an invite to the NIT, earning a No. 6 seed and a date at Stanford.

Like a broken record, BYU fell behind in the second half. They nearly pulled off another miracle comeback, trailing by nine with less than a minute to play, but their last-second three-point attempt to tie it didn’t go in, ending the Cougars’ rollercoaster ride of a season.

The End of the Ride?

BYU finishes the 2017-18 season at 24-11, their 13th straight 20-win season and 13th straight postseason berth. The year certainly had its ups and downs, but there’s one very bright spot at the end of this season’s ride.

Everyone is back next year.

You can take the entire current roster and add Nick Emery back (hopefully), along with Kolby Lee, Gavin Baxter, and Connor Harding. Suddenly the depth that was sorely lacking this year is there in spades.

Plus, this year’s squad will have another year of growth and development.

So buckle up, because in six moths a new ride begins.