The last two games, BYU has been a Jeckyl and Hyde when it comes to 3-pt shooting.

Against UTA they were a woeful 6/22 or 22%. Many of the misses were wide open. They lost the game by 14 points. If BYU shoots 40% from the arc, they score an additional 15 points. I'm not necessarily saying that BYU would win, but they would have been in the game. Add to that the fact that UTA shot an unreal 60% from the 3-pt line (12/20). Many of those shots were contested. They were freaky hot. Suppose they only shot 50% from 3 that would be 2 less 3s or 6 points. So if BYU shoots a more normal 40% and UTA shoots a still-hot-but-not-white-hot 50% from 3, then maybe BYU wins that game.

Against Niagara, BYU took a lot fewer 3s, but they made more than half of them. They 7/12 for 58%. That's really hot. Niagara, on the other hand, took a lot of 3s but their percentage was not as good. They were 10 of 30 for 33%. Suppose both teams shoot 40% from 3. That's 2 less 3s (or 6 less points) for BYU, and 2 more 3s (or 6 more points) for Niagara. Just based on 3s, that would have made the score 94-89 with Niagara on top.

BYU is better when they shoot fewer 3s, but a higher percentage. In order to do that, they have to pass the ball around, work it inside, or drive inside, and then kick it out to the open shooter. BYU did that much better in the 2nd half to tonight's game, and that made all the difference.

UTA is a very good team (they almost knocked off Alabama tonight), but not as good as BYU made them look. Niagara is a decent team with a couple off good players, but BYU made them look better than they are as well.

BYU has the potential to be a good team, but there are some things they've got to do to get there:

1. They need to significantly cut down on the turnovers. There were a number of really ugly unforced turnover tonight.

2. They need to significantly improve their rebounding. Yes, they outrebounded Niagara tonight, but they let them get way more offensive rebounds than they should have.

3. BYU is a team that can't relax al all, ever, if they want to be successful. They've got to play hard, with energy and passion, and keep the intensity up for 40 minutes every game (longer than that if the game goes into OT).

4. Defense is still a work in progress, but they are making progress. They've got to give shooters (think St Mary's) no room to shoot. Defenders need to be on them like glue all the time. Tonight BYU was better at this than last year, but not nearly as good as they need to be. Scott is a great scorer, but there's no way BYU should let him get 30 points on them. Defense has to continue to improve.

5. They've got to focus on assists. If they get a large percentage of their points off of assists then it means they're being efficient offensively. Haws made a few very nice passes tonight. That needs to continue to be a strong focus, and BYU needs to continue to improve in this area. There is still too much driving to the basket with no thought of kicking the ball out to the open shooter, and forcing up a shot. Some good drives tonight, but not enough passes out from those drives. EB played well tonight, but frankly, I thought he got bailed out on a few drives where he had no shot at making a basket and had no thought of passing to anyone.

6. I think Rose needs some more consistent substitution patterns. If players know they're going to get approximately a certain number of minutes, and know about when those minutes might come, they'll be more prepared to contribute. Obviously, matchups and opponents dictate some of this but some things are a bit head-scratching. Hardnett started the game and played pretty well, then sat for a long stretch in the 1st half and didn't come back into the game until midway through the 2nd half. I know Bryant came into the game, but still, I though Hardnett was contributing. Dastrup played for a few minutes in the 1st half and did OK, but then never saw the floor again. Worthington seemed to be stuck on the bench for extended periods as well. Not a huge deal, but it seems like the bench players don't know what to expect in the games, and the only way they'll contribute in key spots is if they get some consistent time game-to-game.

7. Nice to see BYU score 60 in the 2nd half. But they gave up 50. This BYU team needs to learn to turn up the defense when they're on an offensive spurt, and put teams away. They definitely don't have that killer instinct yet.