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Provo • One of the great things about watching baseball, or so the sentiment goes, is that you will usually see something you've never seen before in every game.
But America's pastime has nothing on Thursday night's college basketball game in Provo, which featured all sorts of strange happenings and rarely-seen before occurrences and ended in an upset of significant proportions. Pepperdine, a 15-point underdog, stunned BYU 67-61 to get its first win at the Marriott Center since 1985.
The Cougars (13-5, 3-2 WCC) will attempt to bounce back from the disappointing loss that surely damaged their NCAA Tournament hopes on Saturday night when they face last-place Loyola Marymount (4-12, 0-4 WCC) at home at 7 p.m. MST. The game will be televised by BYUtv.
BYU played against "one of the best defensive three-point guarding teams in the country, and our percentage [23.1] showed that tonight," Cougars coach Dave Rose said after the loss. "Even the clean looks we got, we couldn't convert them, so we will go back tomorrow and figure out some things we can do better, and hopefully play better on Saturday night."
Perhaps all the weirdness Thursday can be blamed on the 9:05 p.m. tipoff time, or the fact that ESPNU didn't use on-site broadcasters, instead having John Brickley and Mo Cassara call the game from headquarters in Bristol, Conn. Viewers gave it a resounding thumbs-down, judging by their comments on Twitter.
Whatever the case, it made for an entertaining late night of basketball. A sampling:
• There was the (almost) whistle-free first half when Pepperdine was not assessed a foul until 2 minutes, 35 seconds remained. Then four fouls were called on the Waves in a span of 35 seconds, beginning at the 1:31 mark.
• BYU, which led the country in made free throws (20.4 per game), did not attempt one until 12:10 remained in the game, and finished with just eight, making seven. Tyler Haws, who had attempted 115 before Thursday, got just two.
"We drive it and try to get in there and create contact," said Rose, whose team is 19th in free-throws attempted, 25.6 per game. "Their scheme on Ty [Haws] was good. They switched out everything. But they were pretty physical. I think if you went back and watched the film, there were probably a couple times he should have ended up at the line, but didn't."
• With 4:48 remaining, officials called traveling on BYU's Kyle Collinsworth, but the Cougars thought a foul had been called. While they were lining up for an inbounds pass, officials handed the ball to the Waves, and Jett Raines was alone at the other end for an easy dunk.
"I was talking to the official up top, and they handed the ball in, and I thought they were handing it to our guy," Rose said. "… That is my mistake. I was involved in something I probably shouldn't have been involved in."
• Collinsworth, coming off a triple-double in the 99-68 win at San Francisco, was ill and played just 25 minutes, going 1 of 8 from the field and grabbing just three rebounds.
"Yeah [he was sick]," Rose said. "He gave us a really good effort, but it is a team game, and when that is an issue, [which] every team goes through, you have to find ways to overcome it."
The Cougars couldn't, and now they face a must-win situation if they hope to stay in the top half of the WCC standings and rediscover their momentum in wins over Portland, Santa Clara and San Francisco last week.
"Well, we will see [how they bounce back]," Rose said, after giving Pepperdine "all the credit in the world" for springing the upset. "We got a lot of time. The history with this group so far is that they bounce back pretty well. But this will be tough. We were on a nice roll, and this is a setback that we got to overcome."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Loyola Marymount at BYU
P At the Marriott Center, Provo
Tipoff • 7 p.m.
TV • BYUtv
Radio • 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
Records • BYU 13-5, 3-2 WCC; LMU 4-12, 0-4 WCC
Series history • BYU leads 6-4
Last meeting • BYU 85, LMU 74 (March 8, 2014)
About the Lions • They are coming off a 59-50 loss at San Diego in which they committed 18 turnovers in a low-scoring defensive struggle. They led 43-39 with just under nine minutes remaining, then gave up a 13-0 USD run. … Coach Mike Dunlap is in his first year, having succeeded Max Good. … They are led in scoring by sophomore Evan Payne (20.1 ppg.), the only player who averages in double figures.
About the Cougars • They are coming off a 67-61 loss to Pepperdine on Thursday night, a loss that snapped a three-game winning streak. … Senior guard Tyler Haws has moved into third place on the all-time scoring list with 2,337 career points. … They shot only eight free throws against the Waves after having shot 31 the last time Pepperdine visited the Marriott Center.