BYU Basketball: Takeaways from another blowout loss to St. Mary’s

After winning their WCC opener on Thursday, BYU Basketball looked completely outmatched in a blowout loss to St. Mary’s.

When we previewed BYU Basketball’s matchup on Saturday against St. Mary’s, we gave three keys to knocking off the Gaels:

• Don’t reach on defense
• Keep Jordan Ford in check
• Avoid mental mistakes

Well, they did pretty good at at avoiding reaching fouls, but allowed Ford to go off for 23 points and played one of their most mentally weak games in an 88-66 loss to the Gaels.

Here’s what we learned in the midst of the embarrassment:

Mental Mistakes

The Cougars struggled with turnovers once again, giving it away 16 times. Not only that, but they also missed more shots within 10 feet than any college team has any right to miss.

More importantly, BYU’s defense was completely out of sorts the entire game, allowing the Gaels to get good shots on nearly every possession.

Two-point Woes

While BYU shot decently from three-point range (35.3%), they shot miserably from within that line. They only went 16-37 (43.2%) on their two-point shots, and you’re not going to win in Division I basketball if you can’t make more than half of your close-range shots.

Look at St. Mary’s. They hit 61% of their two point shots, which is a testament to both BYU’s awful defense and the Gaels’ ability to make basic basketball shots.

Another Run

BYU seems to fall apart toward the end of the first half every game. This time they allowed the Gaels to go on a 14-2 run to take a 13-point lead. BYU’s only points in the final 3:30 was a TJ Haws three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

80 Again

BYU gave up 80+ points for the fifth consecutive game and the ninth time this season.

Hence their worst season in more than a decade.

Regressing Childs

Childs has been playing worse and worse over the past few weeks. He had a good scoring night against St. Mary’s with 21 points, but turned the ball over five times.

Early in the season he’d done well to make smart plays when being double-teamed, but he’s become rushed in those situations and made costly mistakes.

A Comfortable Emery

Emery had his best game of the season, and seems to finally be finding his groove offensively. He scored 13 points on 50% shooting from both the field and the three-point line.

Now he needs to stop getting himself into foul trouble.

No Supporting Cast

Players not named Childs, Emery, or TJ Haws scored a grand total of 12 points in the games. BYU’s play from their supporting cast is going from bad to worse.

Giving them Fitts

One telling example of BYU’s mental mistakes came toward the end of the first half. St. Mary’s sophomore Malik Fitts hit a three-pointer to give the Gaels the lead, then the Cougars proceeded to give him two wide-open three pointers in their next two possessions. He hit both and the lead ballooned to seven. That was the start of the run that put the game away.

Cringe-worthy Shots

Here’s a legitimate question for debate: Which shot is more maddening, a Yoeli Childs flat-footed three-pointer or a Luke Worthington post-up hook shot?