For the first time in coach Dave Rose's tenure, the BYU basketball team has lost three home games in one season. Struggling throughout the game, especially on offense, the Cougars fell hard tonight to No. 21 St. Mary's, dropping an 80-66 decision at the Marriott Center.
It was a tough night for Rose, who picked up only his second technical foul in his head-coaching career for snarling at a ref who had called a foul on Matt Carlino with just over two minutes remaining. Actually, the ref whom Rose was disgusted with did not call the technical. It was another ref, perhaps making up for a technical he called on St. Mary's bench earlier in the game.
BYU's studentbody also picked up an "administrative technical foul" for throwing debris on the court in the second half. The students had been warned earlier in the game when some a wadded-up rally towel was thrown on the floor.
I asked Rose if he was disappointed in the students for giving away points. Check out his last sentence.
"I think they were really engaged in the game, and I was really pleased with the energy in the building," he replied. "There were probably a couple fans that .... reacted negatively, that, you wouldn't want that to happen.
But they are probably disappointed in a lot of things, too."

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Oddly, the game started well for BYU. Matthew Dellavedova missed a wide open 3-pointer badly, and on the other end Brandon Davies threw down a one-handed dunk.
The Cougars (18-6) had just two leads after that, 6-4 after a Noah Hartsock field goal and 7-6 after a Davies free throw.
St. Mary's had the lead for the remaining 35 minutes.
Not that it would have changed the outcome, but BYU's Charles Abouo was ill and played only 23 minutes. Rose went with Anson Winder to start the second half, but Abouo played later in the half and did score six points.
But he clearly wasn't himself.
The Cougars lost the rebounding battle, 35-30. St. Mary's bench outscored BYU's bench 22-15, thanks to the heroics of Gaels senior Clint Steindl (16 points).

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As can be expected after the Cougars lost back-to-back games at home for the first time since 2007, Rose was not a happy camper in the postgame news conference.
Here are his remarks:

Opening statement:

"i think that it was a really hardfought game. I think both teams competed really well. St. Mary's played terrific. I thought they were outstanding, especially in that first half, as far as spreading us out and having multiple players being able to make big shots, make big plays.
It got us in a hole.
I thought they kind of got us where we were rushing everything again, just like we did when we were playing them over there. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we got behind.
We got the ball inside quite a bit, but turned it over. Didn't get shots that we wanted to.
So it kind of led to just a little bit where we got in a little bit of a hurry. In the second half, it was an interesting game, that second half. Both teams competing and it seemed like every time we had a chance to make a little bit of a run, or a little bit of a breakthrough, St. Mary's made a really big play.
They made a big shot, they got a big rebound, they got a steal. It is a good team. It is a really good team."

On having to go out of the zone early due to Steindl's marksmanship:

"Well, I think it was really big. The game was, I think, just kind of going back and forth. He was able to get some separation and score. He hit a big three in the corner and then a couple big threes on the wing. Then we went to man and he hit another big three when we gave help. So I think he had 12, 14 points in the first half off the bench. That's a big lift. That's a real big lift for them."

On whether players were diverted attention-wise because of officiating:

"I was really concerned about how hard we could play, and if we could play that hard with some of the frustration that was involved, and still be able to execute.
I felt that defensively we were able to handle it better than offensively. I think we rushed a lot of things offensively, and we got them in some real difficult spots and were able to turn them over. We turned them over 24 times, and that's not typical for them. But we weren't able to take that energy and that emotion and calm down and execute offensively like we needed to."

On St. Mary's defense:

"It is a little bit of everything. They are a really physical team, and their physical presence caused us to rush things. But we had a lot of good looks we just didn't make, too."

On Clint Steindl:

"In the first 12 or 13 games of the season for them he was a big factor, was in the starting lineup and . .yeah, we knew he could really catch it and shoot. When he came in I think the whole bench was engaged in trying to get to the corner. I think one was pretty contested. The other two were pretty open looks where he could shoot it at his pace."

On Matthew Dellavedova:

"He is a terrific player. I mean, he understands this game as well as probably any point guard that we have ever played against. I mean, you watch enough film on him, he knows how to get all of his teammates involved. He can make big plays with the ball, he can make big plays without the ball. He got a huge rebound late in the game that was at a critical time when we had a little bit of momentum going. He had a big steal. He's a really good player, and he can help his team win scoring, and he can help his team without scoring. The bottom line is, point guard, you are really kind of judged by wins and losses, and this kid, he's a winner."

On 3-point shooting:

"We need to shoot the ball better from the perimeter. I think we are capable of that. Right now, we are not shooting the ball, I think, as well as we are capable. We will work on it. In the second half, we were kind of trying to figure out another way to score. It was difficult for us.
The way we are put together is we have been pretty consistent throughout the year, getting shots. And right now we are not shooting the ball as well as we are capable."