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BYU Basketball: How the Cougars can pull off the upset over Mississippi State

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Jock Landale #34 of the Saint Mary's Gaels is guarded by Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Jock Landale #34 of the Saint Mary's Gaels is guarded by Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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PROVO, UT – FEBRUARY 02: TJ Haws #30 of the Brigham Young Cougars fights for the ball with Killian Tillie #33 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a game at Marriott Center on February 2, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
PROVO, UT – FEBRUARY 02: TJ Haws #30 of the Brigham Young Cougars fights for the ball with Killian Tillie #33 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during a game at Marriott Center on February 2, 2017 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

Play Defense

Yes, this is a broad key. But while there are so many aspects of playing defense successfully, BYU needs to improve in almost every single one of them.

Especially on the road. In six games away from the Marriott Center the Cougars are giving up an average of 88.7 points per game. If BYU gave up that amount in every game they would rank No. 350 – out of 351 teams – in points allowed per game.

Most of their defensive struggles have come from poor perimeter defense. The Cougar guards struggle to prevent dribble penetration, which in turn causes the entire defense to scramble and allows open looks.

The guards have also struggled to adequately close out on shooters, allowing teams to get too many good three-point opportunities, and those teams have made them pay. UNLV and San Diego State combined to shoot 48% from distance against BYU.

But the interior defense hasn’t been much better. The Cougars don’t have a true shot-blocking threat, so opponents take it to the hole without much fear for being swatted.

The defensive improvements have to start at the point of attack and spread elsewhere. Whoever it is that’s guarding the ballhandler, whether Jashire Hardnett or TJ Haws or Nick Emery, has to keep him from getting into the paint. That’s much easier said than done, but without that fix the rest of the defense will continue to struggle.

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