This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • In a loss two nights ago at Santa Clara, BYU basketball coach Dave Rose thought his squad was manhandled by the Broncos to the extent that it disrupted a lot of what the Cougars were trying to do offensively.
Loyola Marymount tried those same tactics on Saturday night at the Marriott Center, with far less positive results.
Going to the free-throw line 44 times in a marathon game that featured 50 fouls, the Cougars rebounded nicely from the road loss with an 85-77 win over the Lions in front of 15,189 irritated fans in Provo.
The Cougars made just enough free throws, 28, and overcame 23 turnovers to improve to 7-3 in the West Coast Conference, 16-7 overall. LMU dropped to 10-11 overall, 3-7 in the WCC.
"Our guys at times looked like we were a little bit hesitant," Rose said. "But for the most part we attacked pretty well, and besides the turnovers and shooting 60 percent from the line, I thought it was a pretty good win for our guys."
BYU-LMU games are usually free-flowing, defense-optional affairs, but not this time. The Lions pressured every pass, contested every shot and even tried to press the length of the court at times in an attempt to pull off what Santa Clara did Thursday in that 76-68 win at Leavey Center.
"It was more of a reactionary game. It wasn't a game where you could dictate to them because they were so aggressive and always trying to make plays on the ball and knock that thing around," Rose said.
For the fans, it was an ugly game that went well past two hours and produced a whistle almost every time down the floor, especially in the second half.
Through it all, BYU center Eric Mika fouled out two LMU bigs, burly bruiser Shamar Johnson and Serbian Stefan Jovanovic. Mika managed to score 27 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field and 11 of 14 from the line, but fell just one rebound short of another double-double.
Still, the Cougars could never quite run and hide from the visitors they edged 81-76 on Dec. 31 in Los Angeles.
"We didn't have that constant energy that we needed and we let them creep back in it a couple of times," Mika said.
TJ Haws added 19 points for BYU, while Nick Emery shook off a knee contusion to score 11 and freshman Yoeli Childs had 10 points and eight boards.
"You don't really get tired, so that's a good thing," Haws said of the "very physical game" that saw the Cougars win the rebounding battle 46-32. "We were more ready for it this time."
BYU led just 52-49 when LMU's Brandon Brown hit a 3-pointer with 17 minutes and 41 seconds remaining, but the Lions would go nearly eight minutes without a field goal and the Cougars built a 70-54 lead.
The Lions put together a 10-1 run to get back in it, and got within six a couple times in the last six minutes. Buay Tuach led LMU with 21 points and Brown and Steven Haney had 17 apiece.
"We shot 53 percent from the field, which is a good number for us," Rose said. "When you start missing free throws I think that effects how hard you really attack and you are kind of indecisive because you don't really know if you want to go in there and get fouled or what you are looking for. That's something we need to address."
There is also that turnover problem, which has resurfaced the last four league games. The Cougars are getting too careless with the ball, and struggle against smaller, quicker defenders like Santa Clara and LMU have.
"Execution is probably the biggest key with this group, and then finding the right group of guys at the right time with a whole bunch of new guys," Rose said. "Their desire and their competitiveness and how hard they play, I am pleased with that."
And they didn't back away from a physical game on Saturday night, something Rose didn't see two nights ago.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Storylines
R Eric Mika scores 27 points and grabs nine rebounds as BYU improves to 7-3 in WCC play.
• The Cougars go 28 of 44 from the free-throw line in a game that features 50 fouls and 69 free throws.
• TJ Haws adds 19 points, Nick Emery chips in 11 and Yoeli Childs 10 for the Cougars.