alt=Jeff CallBOISE, Idaho — Less than a week after knocking down a dramatic buzzer-beater to knock off Houston, BYU was unable to make more magic on the road Wednesday at Boise State, both in regulation and in an overtime period.
In the end, the Cougars dropped a 72-68 decision to the Broncos in extra time at ExtraMile Arena.
BYU overcame a frustrating first half and a nine-point deficit to take a lead in the second half, but in the final moments of regulation and in OT, the Cougars faltered.
“It’s really, really hard to win on the road. Credit to Boise State. They fought throughout the whole game,” said BYU forward Dalton Nixon. “Down the stretch, we just weren’t able to make some of the plays we were able to make against Houston and we fell short tonight.”
With 25 seconds remaining in regulation and the score tied 58-58, BYU had possession and the ball was in the hands of senior Jake Toolson, who finished with a team-high 19 points. Toolson drove into the lane and attempted a fadeaway jumper that rimmed out just before the buzzer sounded.
“In hindsight, I should have called a timeout,” coach Mark Pope said of that possession. “It’s not fair to put that much on (Toolson).”
“It’s really, really hard to win on the road. Credit to Boise State. They fought throughout the whole game. Down the stretch, we just weren’t able to make some of the plays we were able to make against Houston and we fell short tonight.” — BYU forward Dalton Nixon
Then in overtime, the Cougars took a 64-62 lead on a layup by Dalton Nixon. But BYU never led again.
Boise State’s Justinian Jessup buried a three-pointer (he finished 1 of 6 from three-point territory) and later stole an ill-advised behind-the-back pass by Toolson and raced downcourt for a dunk. At that point, BSU led 69-64 with 36 seconds remaining.
The Broncos were led by Derrick Alston, who is one of the nation’s leading scorers, averaging 25 points per outing. Alston poured in a game-high 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
RJ Williams was 6 of 6 from the field and added 18 points and seven rebounds for BSU before fouling out in regulation.
“He’s really long and he’s crafty,” Nixon said of Alston. “He’s a good shooter and can score it. He came to play tonight and we was a good test for us.”
After an abysmal shooting performance in the first half, BYU turned things around in the second half.
“Overall, our defense was solid. We out-rebounded them, which we have to do every game,” said forward Kolby Lee. “The first half was just horrible. We had the ball on the same side too much. It was a frustrating game.”
Back-to-back three-pointers by Connor Harding gave BYU its first lead, 39-38, since midway through the first half, with 13:30 remaining. During that stretch the Cougars went on a 12-2 run.
“Offensively, we struggled to find ourselves and to play at the pace we usually have,” Nixon said. “I thought we did better job of that in the second half making plays for each other. The ball was moving around a lot more. ”
In the second half, BYU hit five three-pointers and finished 7 of 24 from distance. BSU hit 3 of 19.
Boise State improved to 2-2, snapping a two-game losing streak, while BYU fell to 3-2.
Both teams clanked a flurry of shots to open the game.
It took BYU and Boise State more than two minutes to score the first points of the game, when Toolson hit a three-pointer.
The Cougars opened the game shooting 1 of 12 from the field while the Broncos went 1 of 7.
But while BSU started to drive to the basket and make layups, BYU continued to struggle. Alston and Williams combined to score the Broncos’ first 21 points and eventually seized a nine-point lead, 25-16, with three minutes remaining in the half.
The Cougars missed 20 of their first 25 shots from the field and finished the half 8 of 32. At that point, BYU trailed 27-20.
The Cougars take on UCLA next Monday in the first round of the Maui Invitational.
TIP-INS: BYU leads the all-time series with Boise State, 9-5 … Attendance was 6,143 … Boise State outscored BYU in the paint, 44-34.