BYU Basketball: Insights from the blowout loss to Gonzaga

No. 4 Gonzaga completely decimated BYU Basketball on Thursday night, as the Cougars struggled on both ends of the court in the 30-point loss.

BYU Basketball’s defense was poor and their offense was nonexistent in the first half of Thursday night’s game against No. 4 Gonzaga. Then in the second half their offense was poor and their defense was nonexistent.

As a result, the Bulldogs blew the Cougars out of the Marriott Center 93-63 in a game that was never particularly competitive.

The loss drops BYU to 13-10 on the season with a 5-3 conference mark.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the loss:

Easy Misses

BYU seemed to forget in the first half that the point of playing basketball is to put the ball in the basket.

The Cougars actually ran their offense well and got good looks, both in the paint and from the perimeter, but they couldn’t hit those shots. You don’t beat many teams, especially elite ones like Gonzaga, when you shoot less than 28% from the field and less than 20% from distance in the first half.

No Perimeter Defense

Gonzaga hit 10 of their 20 three pointers on the night, and very few of those were contested. The Cougar defense was mostly content to play off of the Bulldogs on the perimeter, and Gonzaga responded by knocking down those uncontested shots.

Battle of the Bigs

This game showcased two of the best big men in the country, Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura and BYU’s Yoeli Childs, and Hachimura won that battle handily.

The Zags’ likely lottery pick scored 20 points on 8-13 shooting, adding nine rebounds and a block. Childs, on the other hand, only managed 12 points on 3-11 shooting and seven boards before fouling out late in the game.

Battle of the Boards

For the third straight game BYU was completely outclassed on the boards. Gonzaga outrebounded BYU 41-31, the third time in a row the Cougars have lost that battle by double-digits.

Good Seljaas

Zac Seljaas can be a weapon for BYU if he plays aggressively and shoots with confidence. Unfortunately that hasn’t been a frequent occurence this year.

He played quite well against the Bulldogs, though, finishing with 13 points on 5-7 shooting, and at one point led the team in scoring.

Unfortunately he was outmatched on defense by the much bigger Gonzaga post players, but kudos to him for not backing down.

Hardnett Back

Jashire Hardnett returned to the lineup for the first time since reportedly leaving the team and then returning.

But while he had a couple of nice plays, including a three-pointer, he struggled with his ball-handling and got himself stuck multiple times in the lane among the Gonzaga bigs, and the bigs won that battle nearly every time.

No Playmakers

BYU’s lack of playmakers was especially glaring midway through the second half of Thursday’s game. With Yoeli Childs in foul trouble and TJ Haws needing a break, the lineup consisted of Hardnett, Seljaas, Nick Emery, Rylan Bergersen, and Dalton Nixon.

Not only was that lineup severely undersized, but it lacked anyone who could create offense for the Cougars. With that group on the court the only points came on a Seljaas trey.

Lineup Change

Another game with Gavin Baxter out of the starting lineup should be immediate grounds for dismissal for the entire coaching staff.

Where Credit is Due

Give Gonzaga credit, they’re an elite team that has more talent and discipline than BYU does. It would have taken a near-perfect outing by the Cougars to pull of the upset, and BYU’s outing was about as far from perfect as you can get.

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