BYU hangs tough early, but Kansas too much to overcome

BYU gave a good effort in the first half, but Kansas’ size and athleticism were too much to overcome as Kansas beat BYU 71-56 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

BYU’s defense was crisp and sound in the first half and went into the locker room down just two, but BYU had to work too hard on the offensive end and couldn’t muster up the points to hold off Kansas. TJ Haws was BYU’s best player and led the Cougars with 16 points and 5 assists, but the team overall shot just 41% from the field and and 9-33 (27%) from deep.

Kansas pressured BYU’s guards in the halfcourt as the game went along and the Cougar offense could never get into a rhythm. With the shots not falling, BYU’s defensive rotations eventually slowed down and led to Kansas’ bigs getting easy buckets in the paint.

Overall, BYU got a boost in its strength of schedule and will get a chance for one more solid win before heading home.

BYU next plays Virginia Tech (6-1) in the third place game 9:30 MST on ESPN2.