Why No. 14 BYU left season's first loss at Utah encouraged

PROVO — Give credit to BYU coach Mark Pope; he knows how to spin it.

After the 14th-ranked Cougars' 73-69 loss to rival Utah in their first (and only) true road test of nonconference play, the BYU head coach was honest, candid and as forthcoming as he could be when he met with a handful of reporters and answered every question he needed — and then a couple more — in just under 10 minutes while staff and players shuffled past to get to the team bus.

After Utah coach Craig Smith ran up to the student section of the Huntsman Center's first sellout since 2017, Pope held a much more understandably solemn tone underneath the announced crowd of 15,648.

But the veteran college basketball coach remained encouraged by a 4-point loss that felt like it would be anything-but during the first half, when the Cougars shot just 20% from 3-point range and fell behind by as much as 16 shortly after halftime.

To paraphrase CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, this is only December. Pope's Cougars have a lot of basketball in front of them.

Maybe that's why the fifth-year BYU coach found plenty of positives to take from the 8-1 Cougars, in between bouts of complimenting Smith's game plan and crediting Utah stars Branden Carlson and Gabe Madsen, who had 15 points and 17 points, respectively.

There were plenty of mistakes, but also reasons for optimism, including Spencer Johnson's career-high 11 rebounds, Richie Saunders' 13 points off the bench, and Aly Khalifa's season-best six assists in 26 minutes. They'll need better shooting, among other things, but there were signs that the Cougars have the pieces of a pretty good basketball team.

"We are proud of the eight turnovers because that feels like us," Pope said after the second-longest win streak during his BYU tenure came to an end. "The 17 offensive rebounds on our toughest shooting night came against the tallest team in the country. I feel like we got exposed on high ball screens.

"We weren't ourselves in transition defense in the first half. Sometimes the emotion of the game pulls you somewhere that is not you and it's very fixable. That comes from too much care, not enough care."

Make no mistake; Utah wanted Saturday's win more than BYU — or at least, the Utes needed it more. The Cougars dropped just two spots to No. 8 in KenPom's predictive ratings Saturday night, and Sunday's updated NET rankings had BYU still at No. 3 in the NCAA's primary evaluation tool after the Quad 1 loss.

Utah, meanwhile, moved up 17 spots to No. 32 in the NET — one spot behind another in-state rival in Utah State — while matching the Cougars' record in Quad 1 games at 1-1.

"It's a terrific win for them," Pope said of the Utes. "I'm proud of my guys in the parts of the game where we could find the space to be us where we were really good. I'm super proud of that. I have a little more confidence than ever that we have a chance to grow into a really good team. I'm excited for that."

Speaking of the NET, BYU will have plenty of chances to earn similar such wins once Big 12 play begins, when six other top-30 teams will play the Cougars — either home, away or sometimes both. A dozen Big 12 teams current rank in the top 100 of the NET, more than any other league in college basketball.

That's compared to just two top-25 NET opportunities (and six in the top-100) for Utah in Pac-12 play, led by No. 1 Arizona and No. 23 Washington State. Five teams from the Pac-12 are currently outside the NET top 100, compared to three from the Big 12.

If the Cougars can learn from Saturday's disappointment, they'll have ample opportunity to rack up road wins, nab Quad 1 highlights, and build an NCAA Tournament resume down the stretch. No Big 12 team has finished .500 or better in conference play and missed the field of 68 since West Virginia in 2014.

The Utes stunned BYU early with an array of passing, 3-pointers and dazzling dunks that prompted one reporter on press row nestled on the concourse beneath a set of raised black curtains to call it the best environment he's seen at the Huntsman Center in years.

Were the Cougars a bit mystified, or at least shellshocked by a true road environment after spending the first eight games of the season at the Marriott Center or in stale neutral-site arenas in Las Vegas and downtown Salt Lake City?

If they were, they'll need to get over it quickly. Road games in Houston, Texas; Lawrence, Kansas; Waco, Texas; and Norman, Oklahoma won't be nearly as forgiving.

"I think we were a little nervous, the fact that it was a rivalry game," Johnson admitted, candidly. "We had so emotion that spilled into the wrong areas of the game. We had a really solid game plan coming and we got sidetracked."

Before hitting the road again, BYU has five-straight home games, beginning Wednesday night against Denver (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+).

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