Lawless Republic
Fansided

BYU Basketball: How the Cougars can take down St. Mary’s on Saturday

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Jordan Ford #30 of the Saint Mary's Gaels guards TJ Haws #30 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: Jordan Ford #30 of the Saint Mary's Gaels guards TJ Haws #30 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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Jordan Ford #30 of the Saint Mary’s Gaels drives against Jahshire Hardnett #0 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: Jordan Ford #30 of the Saint Mary’s Gaels drives against Jahshire Hardnett #0 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) /

Slow Down Jordan Ford

Jordan Ford is the best perimeter scorer in the West Coast Conference, and it’s not particularly close. The junior is averaging 22.8 points per game, and he’s doing it on 51.8% shooting and 44.9% three-point accuracy.

Just look at his line on Thursday night: 24 points, 50% shooting from the field and from distance, three rebounds, and an assist.

In other words, he’ll be a one-man kryptonite to exploit BYU’s biggest weakness.

Quite frankly, the Cougar perimeter defense has been atrocious recently. And even though they played decent defense early on against Pacific, things fell apart toward the end of the first half defensively as the Tigers came roaring back.

In the end, Pacific shot 46.3% from the field and 42.9% from distance, and if BYU’s three-point defense is just as abysmal on Saturday Ford will have a big night.

The Gaels shoot well as a whole, but they rely on Ford to provide their biggest scoring punch.

He’s good enough (and BYU is bad enough defensively) that the Cougars won’t shut him down completely. He’s reached double-digit scoring in all but one game this year, and it’s a near certainty that he’ll reach that plateau on Saturday night.

If BYU can hold him under his average, both in points and shooting percentage, they’ll be in a good position to knock off the Gaels.

But if Ford goes off for a monster game the Cougars will have no shot at a second straight road win.

Home/BYU Basketball