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PROVO — The last time Boise State beat BYU in Provo, during the Cougar Classic on Dec. 13, 1996, the second-largest crowd in the Broncos' history watched the most-heavily attended win in the program's past with 20,358 fans on hand.
Wednesday night's crowd inside the Marriott Center, during the coronavirus pandemic, was more than 20,000 fewer than that.
There was just as much celebration in the Broncos' locker room, though.
RayJ Dennis scored 19 points with five assists, and former Wasatch Academy star Emmanuel Akot hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to give Boise State its first road win over BYU in 24 years, 74-70, Wednesday night in the Marriott Center.
Alex Barcello shrugged off a slow start to finish with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Cougars (5-2), and Matt Haarms added 18 points and four rebounds. Spencer Johnson scored 10 points for BYU.
Abu Kigab added 14 points and five rebounds for Boise State (3-1), and Mountain West preseason player of the year Derrick Alston Jr. supplied 12 points, four rebounds and two assists.
But the Broncos turned the key to the budding regional rivalry game with a defense that has forced 61 turnovers in the first three games of the season and scored roughly 30% of their points off those takeaways and scrums.
Boise State forced four turnovers in the first four minutes and jumped out to a 14-0 lead despite not shooting particularly well itself. The Cougars didn't hit a 3-pointer until Connor Harding's off-balance trey with 2:54 left in the half.
BYU coach Mark Pope called the first half "super frustrating," with 11 turnovers and "probably 20 deflections." But most important was the energy on the floor, his leading scorer said.
"They came out with more energy than we did," said Barcello, who made the only shot he took in the first half, with less than a minute remaining. "In the first and second media timeout, I told the guys 'it's not a competition.' They wanted it more than we did. They were denying hard, tipping balls away, making us get turnovers. And we weren't fighting back.
"That's something that we need to do consistently throughout the entire game."
Frankly, it was a lift that BYU only trailed 30-21 at halftime. That's a credit to BYU's defense, which held the Broncos to 47% shooting while outscoring the visitors 34-28 in the paint.
It just wasn't enough. Not when you give up a 14-0 run to start in a hole.
"I think we were doing a decent job on defense," Haarms said. "Late in the second half, even in the first half, there were a lot of mistakes. I think our defense was OK, but not good or great, by any means.
"We had a great scout. We knew what they were going to do, and we let them do it."
BYU slowly chipped away at the lead after the break. Even if they couldn't come all the way back, they learned a lesson from a 26-point loss to USC in "Bubbleville" that spun further out of control following a bad start.
After the Cougars trailed by 14 twice, but pulled within 2 on back-to-back 3s from Johnson and Wyatt Lowell, 48-46 with 10:42 on the clock. That immediately preceded Lukas Milner fouling out on the next play and limiting the Broncos' rotation, a foul-plagued trend that continued down the stretch for Boise State.
Barcello recovered a near-backcourt violation and launched a buzzer-beating heave from 30 feet to pull the Cougars within 4, 61-56 ahead of the final five minutes. But Kigab added a 3 moments later, illustrating the biggest problem in the Cougars' comeback bid.
👌#BYUhoops#MACU3pic.twitter.com/P8PQYkSf28
— BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) December 10, 2020
Every time BYU got close, the Broncos wouldn't let them finish the job.
It started with a defense that forced 14 turnovers. It also included holding the Cougars to 7-of-20 from 3-point range and outrebounding BYU 31-27.
Alston, who had his first career double-double a year ago in the Broncos' overtime win over BYU, made good use of his second shot of the second half with a dunk that gave the Broncos a 69-62 lead with 3:06 remaining. BYU tied the game twice down the stretch — but never led.
Barcello drove to the rim to tie the game at 70-all with 36 seconds left, but left time for the Broncos to take the final shot.
Akot, the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native who went to prep school in Mount Pleasant, Sanpete County, had plenty of time for that final go-ahead 3-pointer.
The Cougars had 17 seconds left and a timeout to draw up the final play. One of those — the first one they drew up — was Barcello's shot from distance off a setup from Averette that glanced off the rim.
It was an open shot. It was Barcello's shot.
It just didn't fall. But don't blame the loss on that one play.
"In the last 10 minutes, we struggled to guard. We fouled too much," Pope said. "We just weren't together defensively in the second half, and it's something we'll continue to learn on and grow on.
"But Alex Barcello is shooting 66% from the 3-point line; it's a great look for us."
Next up
BYU hosts rival Utah on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MT on BYUtv.
