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BYU Basketball: How the Cougar offense is surging in 2018-19

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 03: TJ Haws #30 of the Brigham Young Cougars drives to the basket against Isaiah Wright #22 of the San Diego Toreros during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-79. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 03: TJ Haws #30 of the Brigham Young Cougars drives to the basket against Isaiah Wright #22 of the San Diego Toreros during a quarterfinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-79. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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While BYU Basketball’s struggles on the defensive end have led to six losses early in the season, their offense has been stellar thanks to two key factors.

BYU Basketball’s woeful defense has been hammered enough. Instead, let’s take a look at the area the Cougars are excelling at in 2018-19: the offense.

At first glance, the following comparison makes no sense:

  • 2017-18 – 74.3 ppg, 48.2% field goals, 33.6% three-point field goals
  • 2018-19 – 84.8 ppg, 48.0% field goals, 30.8% three-point field goals

So somehow BYU is scoring 10 points more this season than last, yet they’re shooting the same from the field and significantly worse from distance?

Yep.

It actually makes perfect sense when you look at two other important factors.

Tempo

The Cougars are playing at a much faster tempo this year. Faster tempos lead to more shots, and in theory they’ll lead to a handful of easier baskets each game.

And while BYU has seemingly had easier opportunities this season, they’re not shooting any better.

But volume is another story.

Last year the Cougars averaged 54.4 shots each game. This year it’s 63.8.

Almost 10 more shots per game, and a good deal of that comes because of BYU’s increased tempo.

Ball Control

But that’s not the whole story. One disadvantage of an up-tempo offense tends to be problems with ball control, leading to more turnovers and mental miscues.

That hasn’t been the case for the Cougars, though. Even with their increased pace they’ve decreased their turnovers per game from 11.5 to 11. And they’re moving the ball well, averaging 16.9 assists.

That puts them in the Top 35 in turnovers (No. 21), assists (No. 35), and assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 9).

BYU’s increased tempo while maintaining ball control explains how they’re getting off nearly 10 more shots per game.

That’s a pretty big deal, and based on their current shooting those extra 10 shots equate to roughly eleven points per game.

It’s amazing how math works.

We’d do the same thing to figure out the defensive woes, but the holidays are a time for celebrating, and that math would just be depressing…

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