BYU’s Spencer Johnson failed to contest Colbey Ross’ buzzer-beating jumper at the end of regulation that led to the game being sent to overtime. But he made sure not to make another mistake like that.
With 16 seconds left in overtime, Johnson got a steal that ultimately led No. 2 BYU to beat No. 3 Pepperdine 82-77 in the West Coast Conference semifinal on Monday in Las Vegas. The Cougar will advance to Tuesday’s championship game against top-seeded Gonzaga.
It is the fourth time since joining the WCC that the Cougars will play in the title game — and all have been against the Zags.
“That play won us the game,” BYU senior Alex Barcello said. “Him going out there and getting a steal — we stressed the entire game, before the game and in our scout, just make [Kessler] Edwards get tough catches and that’s exactly what he did towards the end right there.”
With its NCAA Tournament future locked in, BYU went into the WCC Tournament worried on nothing more than what was at hand: to get into the championship game and then see what happens.
The second-seeded Cougars earned a triple-bye, making them the last team to make its debut at the conference tournament at the semifinal matchup against No. 3 Pepperdine. The Waves, on the other hand, were hoping to possibly get a pair of upsets to clench the WCC title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney (with Gonzaga awaiting the winner of this game, it would have been an incredibly challenging goal, but that’s the only way Pepperdine would get into March Madness).
“Both teams really competed at a high level, and that’s all you can ask from your team,” Pepperdine coach Lorenzo Romar said. “I’m proud of our guys, how we competed. We came out on the short end of the stick, which is very unfortunate ... Didn’t work at the end, but proud of our guys.”
The Waves frustrated the Cougars in the regular season, and continued to do so in the postseason. Pepperdine got off to an early lead, which it held for nearly all of regulation. Along with multiple scoring droughts from both ends, the game was made even more ragged by the amount of fouls made by both teams. A total of 49 fouls were committed — 27 of which came in the second half.
“Both teams were out there competing,” Romar said. “Neither one was backing down from the other, and as a result there were a lot of fouls being called.”
The Cougars, especially, also struggled with taking care of the ball.
BYU committed 21 turnovers, which the Waves converted into 24 points. In comparison, the Cougars were only able to score nine points off 14 Pepperdine turnovers.
Yet, all season long, the Cougars have used the phrase “turn frustration into fight” as a way to battle through tough games. And the same was done on Monday.
“We kept looking each other in the eye during the media timeouts and telling each other the game’s not over,” Barcello said. “... There was every single thing that probably could have gone wrong in the first half in the first couple minutes, but these guys just battled back.”
Barcello led the Cougars with a game-high 23 points on 6 of 13 shooting, along with going 8 of 8 from the free throw. The senior also added nine rebounds and two assists while recording 40 minutes on the court.
Fellow seniors Matt Haarms and Brandon Averette provided some much-needed back-up with 18 and 16 points each, respectively. Haarms, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, also added seven rebounds and three blocks.
If the Cougars are to have a chance against the powerhouse Zags in Tuesday’s title game, they cannot afford the number of mistakes they made against Pepperdine.
But BYU coach Mark Pope knows the Zags will be difficult to beat and is happy to get the opportunity to play them for a third time this season as a way to prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
“We’ve got to find a way to step up and raise our level of play to match them,” Pope said. “They deserve a great game tomorrow and we’re hungry to play a great game. And we think we have more in the tank — we believe we do. So, it’s a real blessing. You couldn’t ask for anything more, as an athlete or a team or a coach to be able to get another shot at those guys because they’re very special. We think we’re special also.”
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