BYU basketball: Cougars' offense hot, but defense is key

Statistics don't show all the defensive things the Cougars did well in the game's first 30 minutes that really pushed them out to a 21-point halftime lead and 24-point lead early in the second half. The Horned Frogs entered the game with two straight Mountain West Conference wins because of good offensive execution. The Cougars, however, made them look sloppy until late in the game.

"I really believe that in that first half we were really dialed in defensively," BYU coach Dave Rose said.

Knowing they couldn't let TCU win the battle of the boards, spread them out on offense and penetrate to the basket, the Cougars were outstanding in neutralizing the Horned Frogs' rub-off screens with nicely executed rotation and perfect help defense.

"They got a few good looks, but for the most part we were right there making them take tough shots," Cougar senior Lee Cummard said.

Rose said playing with increased intensity and a higher level of focus is key in big conference games like this one, and that's exactly how the Cougars played — at least for the first 30 minutes.

"I had hoped that our players would come out exactly like they did," Rose said.

The victory puts the Cougars (2-0) tied with San Diego State atop the MWC standings, as both teams are now the only unbeaten teams remaining in the conference. The Aztecs and Cougars will meet for the first of two on Jan. 24 at the Marriott Center. The loss for TCU (2-1) leaves them in a logjam one game back.

While a lot of what BYU did defensively were those immeasurable intangibles, TCU's offensive numbers showed the affects of the defensive pressure it faced. In the first half alone, TCU shot only 31 percent, made only 2-of-13 3-pointers, turned the ball over nine times and let the Cougars steal the ball away five times - all numbers that led to BYU's 42-21 lead at the break. It also helped that TCU made only 11-of-21 free throws in the game.

"We were prepared to play, we just didn't execute any of the things we worked on," TCU coach Jim Christian said. "We just played awful and you can't afford to do that against a great team . . . BYU is a great basketball team and they had a lot to do with us playing awful. We didn't do one of the things well that we tried to focus in on."

The Horned Frogs wanted to take away BYU's transition offense. Instead, the Cougars scored their first basket on a fast-break layup by Cummard, who finished with a game-high 22 points. Overall, it was another solid offensive outing by the Cougars, who shot 50 percent in the first half and 48 percent for the game, with 18 assists to only five turnovers. Behind Cummard in scoring was Jonathan Tavernari with 14, while Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery chipped in 11 each.

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