Provo • The BYU men’s basketball team had started to have fun.
After the disappointment of not getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars needed to find a way to love the game again. When they did, it translated to two straight home wins in the National Invitation Tournament.
But BYU ran into a buzzsaw with several pairs of long arms on Wednesday in Washington State and lost, 77-58, in the NIT quarterfinals, ending the season for the Cougars.
Seniors Alex Barcello and Te’Jon Lucas will move on from the program, while young players like Fousseyni Traore and Atiki Ally Atiki will likely have bigger roles next season. Additionally, there are a few players — Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders, for example — returning from missions.
Coach Mark Pope said he feels optimistic about the immediate future of the men’s basketball program.
“I think our future is incredibly bright,” Pope said during the postgame press conference, which did not include a BYU player. “I think these guys have done an unbelievable job about winning a lot of games and, more importantly, laying a foundation of what our program is supposed to be.”
(Rachel Rydalch | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars helps up Brigham Young Cougars forward Fousseyni Traore (45) during the NIT quarter finals between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Washington State Cougars on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Pope added that the team has “a lot of work to do” and needs to become “a lot better.” Part of that improvement, he said, will come in finding a way to get better outside shots. The Cougars were largely inconsistent from the 3-point line this season, evidenced by shooting 43.2%, 35.7% and 15% respectively in just the last three games.
“We’re actually a really good shooting team when we earn great shots for ourselves,” Pope said. “That’s more of a focus for us. Our teams always shoot great when we earn shots for each other. We’ll get better.
“Our ball movement, a lot of it is dependent on our 4s and 5s, and they’re getting better. It’s just they were thrown in a situation that’s really hard.”
Pope is referring to players like Traore and Atiki, who had to play major roles due to Gavin Baxter tearing his ACL early in the season and Richard Harward not playing at all due to a heart issue. Both players proved that they are going to be huge parts of the team’s future.
(Rachel Rydalch | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars head coach, Mark Pope, during the NIT quarter finals between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Washington State Cougars at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Washington State coach Kyle Smith didn’t mention those two players specifically, but it seemed like he was referring to them when commenting on the quality of BYU’s team, saying its young bigs are “as good as you’ll find.”
“Those young bigs are impressive,” Smith added. “We have good young bigs, too, and they gave us fits.”
Pope said the injuries throughout the season challenged the time. Aside from Baxter and Harward, several key players missed time. He also said the difficulty of the schedule wore the team down over time.
Pope said it’s difficult to win 24 games in a season and expressed pride in how the team fared.
“Even though we fell short of some goals and standards that we have, these guys did it by just putting their whole heart into it,” Pope said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how these guys responded. This is one of those seasons that could be a 15-15 and you write of as, oh this was an injury season. But these guys refused to let that happen. It’s actually incredible.”
(Rachel Rydalch | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars bench during the final minutes of the NIT quarter finals game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Washington State Cougars on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
Traore led the Cougars with 18 points and nine rebounds. Barcello scored 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting, while Caleb Lohner had nine points and 11 rebounds.
BYU finished the season 24-11 overall.
Washington State went on a 10-0 run at the tail end of the first half to take a 29-22 lead, and eventually extended that advantage to 12 after BYU went through a scoring drought of about five minutes.
The Cougars, however, clawed their way back into the game. Trailing by 10, Gideon George made a 3-pointer and Lohner blocked a shot that led to a fast break layup by Lucas.
Then Washington State was called for goaltending a shot by Traore, bringing BYU’s deficit to just three with about 13 minutes remaining in the game. But a 15-2 run by Washington State spelled doom for BYU.
