BYU Basketball: Cougars continued to show weaknesses in loss to UT-Arlington
In a case of deja vu from the season prior, the Texas-Arlington Mavericks ran the BYU Cougars out of their own building using their size and athleticism.
Things started out even for both teams, as BYU (2-1) went inside while the Mavericks hit some contested threes to even the score at 15 in the opening minutes.
That was the last time UT-Arlington’s head coach Scott Cross and his team wasn’t in control. They went on a 28-13 run to lead at the half by 15. The second half was the same case as last year’s rout, with Texas-Arlington (2-0) being unable to miss from three, while the Cougars kept missing their open shots. In the end, UTA went 12-for-20 from deep compared to BYU going 6-for-27.
It was the same duo for the Mavericks that dominated the match-up last year this time around with Kevin Hervey going for 23 points and nine rebounds along with point guard Erick Neal‘s 21 points and 10 assists. One of those assists came on a fancy between-the-legs pass on a three-on-one fast-break.
The final score was 89-75, but BYU was down by nearly 30 in the second half. Elijah Bryant, who played fantastic in the Princeton road win, had 15 points on 1-for-9 shooting from deep. Yoeli Childs was outplayed by Hervey in the individual battle and only had 12 points and five boards.
TJ Haws filled up the stat sheet with 11, 6 and 8, but was beaten down by Neal in their own battle. It was the reserve forward Dalton Nixon who provided good work in garbage time, tying for the team lead with 15 points and added eight rebounds.
What separated the teams in the second half was the constant pick-and-rolls the Mavericks were deploying. Neal and Hervey used it to shred the defense, and even the backup bigs, 7’0″ Johnny Hamilton and 7’1″ Link Kabadyundi, utilized the size advantage to combine for 17 points and eight boards.
What makes this a problem for the Cougars is that they had no answer for what Arlington was doing. At the point guard position, both Haws and backup Jashire Hardnett lack the size to make passing difficult. On the frontcourt end, whether it was Luke Worthington, Payton Dastrup, or Childs as the small five, they could do nothing once the Mavs bigs were in position. The lack of size and physicality was evident, even in the less talented UTA bigs.
While Neal and Hervey are certainly a combo BYU won’t see too much of, they’ll face a similar pair in Saint Mary’s Emmett Naar and Jock Landale, who destroyed Dave Rose and company for a couple of blowouts last time around.
The coaching staff is also going to have to think twice about using a small ball lineup that includes Childs at the five. If unknown frontcourt players start abusing this fan-favorite group of players on the court, then it won’t be just the Mavericks who drop nearly 90 points.
Next: Week 1 National Player of the Year rankings
This lost wasn’t a bad one for the Cougars, but considering it was a good opponent in a home venue, consider it more of a lost opportunity. There will be a team with similar players and athleticism next week in Alabama.
BYU next game: Nov. 21 – Niagara (H)
Texas-Arlington next game: Nov. 21 – Alabama (A)