Last night, BYU basketball took the court in Providence, RI, and finally delivered a response to OutKast's timeless query: what's cooler than being cool?
The Cougars were ice cold shooting the ball against Providence, falling behind by double digits as early as 11 minutes into the ball game. Though the odd hot streak drained the deficit to single digits on multiple occasions, the Friars' offensive firework show really took off in the second half.
To illustrate the disparity between these team's offensive output, the shooting splits paint a Grand Canyon-sized void between these teams. Providence hit an exceptional 59.5% of their field goal attempts, including a scorching 54.5% from long range. Deadly.
On the other rim was the BYU Cougars, who shot 33.3% overall with 28% of their 3s hitting the mark. Does this game's final 19 point deficit make more sense now?
Overall, the Cougars took care of the ball well, but their defensive scheme was slashed to ribbons by the Friars, who hit 12 shots from long range on only 22 attempts. The problem seems to lie at the very foundation of BYU's game plan. Whether the players have properly meshed or not, it was ugly out there and that hardly happens to a team with the talent to make up the difference. That talent is on the roster, so what happened?
Egor and Kanon were particularly putrid on this outing, whether they weren't ready for the hostile road environment (this being their first true road game) or were simply overwhelmed by the Friars' physicality, BYU was out of control and out of the game in the blink of an eye.
Demin had a nightmare game that was so poor it may damage his draft stock for a moment. In 22 minutes, he was 0-10 from the field, shooting 0-5 beyond the arc. He was one of the few players capable of hitting his free throws tonight, going 6-6 from the stripe when BYU hit 64.7% as a whole.
Egor typically makes up for low-scoring volume with his passing ability, but tonight, he only tallied two assists. Poor shooting likely influenced that total and has its fingerprints all over Demin's box score. He was very aware of his shooting numbers, as he began forcing contested deep threes in this game's final moments.
Catchings didn't fare much better in this one either. He grabbed 7 rebounds on the night--5 of which came on offensive boards--but likewise couldn't find the mark while shooting the ball, finishing 1-8 on his shot attempts.
Only one Cougar finished the night with a double-digit scoring output, that being Dawson Baker who finally came alive in the second half, where he scored 14 of his total 16.
The Friars picked up the win that snapped a three-game losing streak. BYU, in contrast, will need to rethink their game plan and approach the remainder of their non-conference games with a positive mindset.
This team still needs to find a rhythm and figure out a system. Kevin Young, despite his years as an assistant in the NBA, is still new to this and is deserving of our patience. This was an ugly loss, but the sky isn't falling.