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BYU Basketball: The blueprint for winning the conference opener at Pacific

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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RENO, NV – NOVEMBER 06: Rylan Bergersen #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars moves the ball down the court during the game between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Brigham Young Cougars at Lawlor Events Center on November 6, 2018 in Reno, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Devich/Getty Images)
RENO, NV – NOVEMBER 06: Rylan Bergersen #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars moves the ball down the court during the game between the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Brigham Young Cougars at Lawlor Events Center on November 6, 2018 in Reno, Nevada. (Photo by Jonathan Devich/Getty Images) /

Ball Movement and Control

BYU currently has the worst defense in the West Coast Conference. Pacific is fourth worst. The Tigers give up an average of 72.8 points per game, and their opponents are hitting 46.6% of their shots and 34.8% of their three-pointers.

The Cougars haven’t had too much of a problem scoring the ball this season, even on the road. In their last three losses they’re averaging 84 points per game, which is a Top 25 offense. It’s their defense that has let them down.

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But their ball control, which was so good earlier in the season, has disappeared over the past few weeks. In their three straight losses they’ve turned the ball over an average of 16 times per game. That’s five more than their season average.

More concerning is the fact that they’re only averaging 14.3 assists over that same span. For a team that spent the early part of the season with one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country, it’s not a good sign that the ratio has been in the negatives recently.

That’s a trend that has to stop, and it will need to stop on Thursday if the Cougars expect to pick up a road win against Pacific.

Yes, the Cougars are an efficient scoring team, even with their three-point struggles. But you can’t shoot the ball well when you don’t get a shot off, and BYU is leaving a lot of shots on the table by giving the ball away so frequently.

Even with their recent ball-handling struggles, the Cougar still average five more assists than turnovers on the season. BYU will have to at least match, if not exceed, that margin on Thursday night for the Cougars to win.

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