Hotly contested Providence buries defenseless BYU 83-64 – Deseret News

The BYU Cougars made 27 more shots than Providence, had 19 more offensive rebounds, had eight more points on the court and committed half as many turnovers as the home team.

Of course, Providence earned a dominant 83-64 victory in a Big East-Big 12 battle game in front of 12,005 spectators at Amica Mutual Pavilion, embarrassing the visiting Cougars into losing three games.

The reason PC went after the defenseless Cougars despite all the other stats seemingly in BYU’s favor was simple.

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Providence shot 60% from the field and 55% from the 3-point line, while BYU shot a frigid 33% and 28% (7 of 25) in those two categories, respectively.

“Just a really inefficient night for us offensively, and then obviously we had a really hard time guarding those guys, we couldn’t keep those guys in front of us,” BYU coach Kevin Young told the BYU Sports Radio Network. “They also fired a lot of shots that clearly hurt.”

They say defenses are on the road, but that night in Rhode Island, the Cougars’ defense most often resembled roadkill. The Cougars were lifeless, had no energy and just made their moves way too often.

“Untypical game for us. A lot of things happened tonight that haven’t happened so far this season. We definitely have to respond to that,” Young said.

They’ll have to wait more than a week as BYU’s next game is Dec. 11 against Fresno State at the Marriott Center. Young said they will use the time to examine all aspects of the team, focusing on the weaknesses that cost them a chance to topple Ole Miss in last week’s overtime loss.

“It was one of those nights where you had to rely on your defense, and we didn’t have the defense there either,” Young said. “Give them credit. They did a good job making the free throws and getting to the free throw line and they also made threes.”

The Friars (6-3) were 12 of 22 from distance and 21 of 26 from the free throw line, using their superior speed to put BYU’s defense on skates and draw fouls.

It was BYU’s first true road game at 6-2, and the reaction was anything but positive – especially for BYU’s guards. Whatever progress the Cougars made last week against similarly strong conference opponents in San Diego was eroded Tuesday night by a team energized by the return of star forward Bryce Hopkins.

BYU looked unsettled from the start – that was evident when Kanon Catchings and Keba Keita missed shots at the rim on BYU’s first possession.

“Kanon gets a close-range basket on the rim on a play we were working on this morning, and that kind of set the tone. For whatever reason, our guys were really frantic around the basket. “I didn’t see that coming,” Young said. “We were often accelerated on the edge. Tonight we were quicker than we finished.”

Five minutes later, Keita had two dunks, the second giving BYU a 10-9 lead. But that was the best for the Cougars, who have difficulty playing together, fending off penetration from quicker guards and defending the perimeter.

Trailing by 12 points at halftime, BYU pulled ahead and scored some consistent points off the bench from Dawson Baker to get back into the game. When Trevin Knell hit a three-pointer with 13:16 left, BYU was only seven points behind. But after a timeout, Providence scored on three consecutive possessions and gradually turned it into a rout.

With representatives from every NBA team in the building to watch BYU’s highly touted freshmen Egor Demin and Catchings do their thing, they experienced the exact opposite – their worst games of the season.

Demin (0 of 10), Catchings (1 of 8) and guard Dallin Hall (1 of 6) combined to go 2 of 24 from the field. Demin scored six points on six of six shots from the free throw line and Catchings had seven rebounds but was constantly exposed by Providence’s physical tactics.

“I feel bad for (Demin) because everyone in the building is here to see him since we’re out here on the East Coast,” Young said. “He will get back on his feet. He’s a resilient guy. He is a talented player. It’s been a pleasure coaching him so far. He has to learn that people will come after him. I tried to tell him that and he listens, he’s aware of it.”

Providence set the tone by shooting an impressive 71% from the field (15 of 21) in the first half and simply didn’t miss. The Friars were 8 of 12 (66.7%) from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, with six different players making three-pointers.

They cooled off a bit in the second half, but not much.

“We have to get better defensively. “We need to get better with our one-on-one defense,” Young said. “We have to do better with our help. Find out who can keep their man in front of them. And that may affect some of the substitutions etc. That will definitely be a big focus.”

For Providence, Hopkins played for the first time since last January after missing his last 26 games with a torn ACL. Hopkins, who scored 15 points last year before his injury, scored his first basket in 11 months with 8:08 left in the first half, giving PC a 31-19 lead and finishing the game with 16 points in 26 minutes-10 of those points came from the free throw line.

Jabri Abdur-Rahim led PC with 21 points, while Baker led BYU with 16 points.