After USF loss BYU coach Mark Pope points the finger

After USF loss, BYU coach Mark Pope points the finger where only he can: at himself – KSL.com

Estimated reading time: 3-4 minutes

PROVO – Tyrell Roberts must really like playing BYU.

In last year’s NIT Quarterfinals, the Washington State Guard scored 11 points in a 77-58 away win over the Cougars. A year and a transfer later, Roberts topped even that.

The grad transfer gave San Francisco a career-high 30 points, including four 3-pointers, as the Dons raced to a big lead and never looked back in an 82-74 win over BYU at War Memorial Gym at Sobrato Center in San Francisco.

Khalil Shabazz added 21 points and five rebounds for the Dons (14-9, 3-5 WCC) and Zane Meeks had 13.

Rudi Williams scored a season-high 28 points in 10-of-12 shooting and led the Cougars, who have now lost three of their last four games. It’s the fifth time all season that Williams has surpassed the 20-point streak and come off the bench in all but one of those games.

Jaxson Robinson added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Cougars; and Gideon George had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals. Fousseyni Traore added 10 points and three rebounds for BYU (14-9, 4-4 WCC).

Instead of preparing for an independent game with league leaders Saint Mary’s next Saturday, the Cougars will have to turn inside after what is arguably the worst stretch of the season, their lone four-game run with three losses and only their third straight setbacks in the years 2022-23.

“Unfortunately, it’s not a laser focus week for Saint Mary’s,” said BYU coach Mark Pope, who took all the blame for the loss in his post-game interview with BYU Radio. “Tonight the wheels fell off the bus and that’s disappointing.

“We’ve taken a big step backwards and that’s 100% my fault,” he added. “I have to pull myself together and we should find some answers.”

The head coach later said the Cougars “didn’t win any facet” of the game and were “brutally passed” which was “really, really worrying.”

“We have good players and they want to get better and they want to win, but we’ve made a big step backwards and it’s 100% me,” Pope said. “I have to pull myself together and find some answers because we should never have a performance like this — never, never, never, never.”

But this had a similar theme as 48 hours earlier in Santa Clara: 15 turnovers led to 25 points. The crucial difference? BYU never led Saturday night.

Similar to Thursday, the Cougars got off to a terrific start. San Francisco hit four 3-pointers in the first six minutes, and the Dons used a 13-3 run to take a 16-5 lead with 14:44 at halftime.

USF turned 11 turnovers into 18 points in the first half, but BYU fought back and crawled to five on George’s layup with 5:39 left – his first field goal scored in almost three games.

But Roberts had 16 points and the Dons made seven 3-pointers and went 8-for-8 off the free-throw line to give the hosts a 37-28 halftime advantage.

San Francisco led by as much as 16 points in the second half, but BYU shot over 59% from the field to reduce the deficit to single digits a few times.

The Cougars just couldn’t get any closer as the Dons knocked down 12 3-pointers and made 24 of 27 free throws to roll out to the goal, overcoming 17 turnovers that BYU converted to 19 points.

Ironically, the Cougars finished up two in turnover thanks to 11 steals that helped force 17 turnovers. The 19 point drop in turnover helped keep it tight, but only so far.

“We need to get our hearts in order first,” Pope said. “That’s the most disappointing part and that comes from my leadership. Then we must get our thoughts right. Then we must be able to execute them.

“It’s up to me. It’s not those guys, it’s 100% me.”

San Francisco guard Tyrell Roberts vs. Arizona State during an NCAA college basketball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, December 21, 2022. Roberts scored a career-high 30 points in USF's 82-74 win over BYU, Saturday, January 21, 2023 on the hilltop.San Francisco guard Tyrell Roberts vs. Arizona State during an NCAA college basketball game in San Francisco, Wednesday, December 21, 2022. Roberts scored a career-high 30 points in USF’s 82-74 win over BYU, Saturday, January 21, 2023 on the hilltop. (Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press)×

The latest BYU basketball stories

A proud Syracuse University graduate, Sean Walker has been covering BYU for KSL.com since 2015, also mixing in prep sports, education, and whatever else his editors assign to him.

Other stories that might interest you