Bench play, boards & Barcello: BYU pulls away from New Orleans for 2-0 start

PROVO — Sometimes you're the shooters. Sometimes you collect boards.

BYU basketball proved Thursday night in the Cougars' second of back-to-back games they can do both.

Alex Barcello poured in 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Richard Harward added 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to help BYU pull away from New Orleans, 86-61, to secure a 2-0 start Thursday night in the Marriott Center.

Connor Harding added 12 points for the Cougars (2-0), who got 12 points, three rebounds and two assists from Kolby Lee and 11 points from Brandon Averette.

Former Wasatch Academy standout Caleb Lohner supplied 6 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars, who outrebounded the Privateers 54-28 but shot just 10-of-27 (37%) from three and a pithy 8-of-21 (38%) from the free-throw line.

"Richard, Caleb, Gideon (George, who had three rebounds), all of those guys going to the glass, that's what won us the game tonight," Harding said. "I give a lot of credit to them; Caleb's been amazing at getting to the loose ball, and Richard had a double-double like that.

"That's what changes the game."

Damion Rosser had 15 points and nine rebounds and Lamont Berzat scored 15 to lead New Orleans (0-1), which was playing its first game against BYU since the 1987 NCAA Tournament.

After struggling from the field, with just one 3-pointer in the first eight minutes of the game, BYU's second unit gave the Cougars a lift. Harward came off the bench to collect four early rebounds and a nasty putback dunk — giving BYU the shot of energy it needed to shake off any tryptophan-induced slumber in the game's early moments.

"That's my mentality: what can I do to get these guys juiced," Harward said. "Our three biggest things are transition defense, getting a rebound, and catching hard. So I come on and know I've got to get a rebound immediately. That settles me down and kind of calms me down."

Jesse Wade spelled Averette to lock down the perimeter, which helped Averette come in and drop a trey moments after he re-inserted the game with 11:35 remaining.

Lohner capped a 9-0 run with a putback with 10:55 to go that gave BYU an 18-11 lead, and the Cougars revved the gas en route to a 41-27 halftime advantage on Wyatt Lowell's halftime buzzer-beater.

"In this type of game, where the fouls are 26-25, I'm just so grateful for depth," Pope said. "Last year, I would've had to put (assistant coach Cody) Fueger in the game. I thought Jesse in the first half was spectacular defensively; I'm really proud of him. He helped our offense flow a lot better.

"We're a million miles away from functioning offensively, but I'm really happy with where Jesse is at."

BYU was just 4-of-13 from 3-point range and 3-of-12 from the free-throw line, but held a 14-point halftime advantage by outrebounding the Privateers, 28-16.

The Cougars used an 11-2 run capped by Barcello's bucket with 10:57 remaining to begin to pull away from the Privateers for good and improve to 2-0 on the season while battling 51 total foul calls.

"This game of basketball can be so frustrating," Pope said. "The whistle, not because it was bad but just because it's the nature of the game, can be so frustrating. It was just a mountain of frustration.

"But I thought the guys managed it."

Injury update

Gavin Baxter was helped to the locker room after going down grabbing his right knee with 4:06 left in the first half. The former Timpview forward did not return, finishing with 2 points and two rebounds.

"We're super hopeful and prayerful," Pope said. "We just don't know. He's going to get an imaging, but we're really hopeful and praying that it is something that is recoverable quickly."

Matt Haarms missed his second-straight game with an ankle injury, one Pope continued to describe as "day-to-day" while adding that he'd like the 7-foot-3 center to get "practice reps" before throwing him into a game.

Next up

After playing two games in 24 hours, the Cougars get a day off before hosting crosstown rival Utah Valley on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT on BYUtv.

The Wolverines opened the season with a 100-75 win over Adams State earlier Thursday afternoon.

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