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Myron Medcalf, ESPN Employees Author
LAWRENCE, Kan. — After main his workforce previous No. 7 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening, BYU coach Mark Pope stated the 76-68 victory was memorable partly due to the place it occurred.
“I believe the blokes agree that everyone that grows up is aware of what this place is, after which, this was my first time strolling right into a sport and I’ve by no means seen an environment fairly like this,” Pope stated after ending the Jayhawks’ 19-game dwelling successful streak. “It is truly actually particular. This can be a nice workforce. We’re grateful we bought a chance to come back and compete right here. It is one of many meccas in faculty basketball.”
Late within the second half, nonetheless, Pope questioned if he had disrupted his workforce’s rhythm and value it a shot on the upset. With 7:50 to play, he acquired a technical foul after a spirited dialog with the officiating crew throughout a timeout.
However as an alternative of rallying his workforce with the technical, Pope stated it compelled the Cougars to refocus.
“I used to be annoyed within the second,” Pope stated. “I want that I used to be such a genius coach that like, ‘I will get a tech proper now and rally the troops.’ That will be a little bit bit disingenuous. I used to be truly shocked that the tech was known as with the dialog we have been having. … I ended up giving [two points] to the opposite workforce, and my guys’ composure stayed good. And on this atmosphere, on this environment, that is actually laborious to do. It is a credit score to those guys and the way collectively they’re and the way a lot belief they’ve in one another, so I believe that was the perfect a part of the tech for me.”
BYU erased a double-digit lead within the second half with a 3-point barrage (7-of-15 after halftime). And Kansas struggled to get any offense from its half-court units, missed key free throws down the stretch and could not defend the perimeter as BYU turned the sport in its favor after the break.
It was simply the 18th dwelling loss since Invoice Self took over at Kansas in 2003. And it snapped a handful of different notable Jayhawks streaks, together with an 82-game dwelling win streak when main at halftime and a 67-game dwelling win streak in opposition to unranked opponents.
Self stated he anticipated a subpar efficiency earlier than the sport even started.
“You can really feel this coming right this moment at shootaround,” he stated. “We had a horrible shootaround. The main focus wasn’t superb. The power degree wasn’t superb. It is not something from an perspective standpoint. It occurs over the course of a season the place you will have days like this.”
With Kevin McCullar Jr. out for a fifth sport due to a bruised knee, Kansas could not discover the offensive spark to match BYU’s power within the last minutes. Self stated just lately that McCullar, a possible All-American and a projected first-round decide on this summer time’s NBA draft, won’t return this season except he is wholesome and ready to assist the Jayhawks within the postseason.
After Tuesday’s loss, Self appeared to counsel the workforce is transferring ahead with the thought McCullar won’t return.
“We’re getting ready like he will not [return],” Self stated. “That is who we’re. After we’re good, we’re fairly good, and once we’re not, we’re not. We performed pitifully tonight. … It will assist if we had [McCullar] again. However we have been coping with this for about 5 weeks the place he hasn’t been himself from a well being standpoint. Even when he performed, he wasn’t himself. We’re not relying on [his return]. We hope it may possibly occur, however we’re definitely not banking on it.”
However Self famous his workforce’s personnel challenges should not diminish the victory for BYU, which has now received 4 video games in opposition to AP-ranked opponents this season, its second most in a season within the ballot period (since 1948-49).
Pope stated the Cougars, who have been making their first journey to the Phog since 1971, entered the Huge 12 “humble” and understood the problem they might face in America’s hardest league, per KenPom and different metrics. However Tuesday’s street win in BYU’s first season within the convention was the results of a unified workforce that stayed robust late, he stated.
“Lots of people do not beat them at dwelling, so that is actually particular for us,” stated BYU guard Jaxson Robinson, who together with teammate Dallin Hall had a game-high 18 factors. “We all know that we’re not carried out, so we have much more to perform.”
Info from ESPN Stats & Info was used on this report.
