For some reason I was nervous before this game started. I wasn’t sure why, but I was. Unfortunately, that feeling was warranted.

How did this happen? Gideon George didn’t play due to illness. Gavin Baxter was injured in the 1st half. Nobody seemed to be able to shoot. A bunch of turnovers by normally sure-handed players. Missed free throws down the stretch of regulation that could have salted the game away for BYU. A technical foul by Pope (he certainly had an argument—horrible non-call by the refs) that gave UVU 2 free points. A combination of a bunch of things. A perfect storm in a negative sense.

Having two of your most athletic players missing all or most of the game was a huge factor in this loss. If Baxter had not gotten injured, or if George was able to play, I'm confident BYU would have won this game.

A few comments about individual players:

• The box score doesn’t really tell the story about Barcello in this game. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and was 4/4 from the FT line. His only 3 came at the end of the game when the game had been decided. But despite his stats Barcello seemed off his game. He never really was able to drive inside, and seemed affected by the physical nature of the game. He’s looked to as the alpha dog of the team but tonight he wasn’t able to make things happen down the stretch.

• Like Barcello, the box score looks better for Lucas than his actual game. 10 points and 8 assists, but 0/4 from 3. In previous games Barcello and Lucas have been able to control things down the stretch and get the win for BYU. Tonight, things just seemed off. When UVU was overplaying BYU on the perimeter BYU was unable to find the open man and too often turned the ball over or ended up taking bad shots at the end of the shot clock.

• Everyone feels horrible about Baxter’s injury. He’s been so much already. Another major injury may be more than he can bear, and who could blame him? Losing him in this game had a huge negative impact on BYU, both in terms of his play, but also emotionally. Hopefully, the injury is not as bad as it appears, and he can recover relatively quickly. But I don’t have a lot of hope that will be the case. Someone on the broadcast said that he just recently quit wearing the knee brace, feeling like he was near 100%. Turns out that may have been a bad decision.

• Traore was kind of invisible in this game. He only had 2 points (2/2 on FTs). Early in the season he seemed to have a clue on offense. But in this game, he looked lost. He only took 4 shots, but none were shot with confidence, and none were close, at least that I remember. Aimaq schooled him.

• Lohner HAS to become a scoring threat. I’m not sure what has happened to him offensively. In HS he was a scoring machine. Now he looks SO uncomfortable shooting. He never looks for his shot anymore, and he rarely will even try to make a move inside. Opposing teams have quit worrying about him, which allows them to focus their attention on guys like Barcello and Lucas. He continues to be a great rebounder (he got 11 tonight) but BYU desperately needs him to contribute offensively.

• Knight deserves more minutes. He was a bit inconsistent tonight, but that’s to be expected when you don’t get consistent PT. He had 10 points 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. He was 2/4 from the 3-point line. He seemed like one of the few that was willing to be assertive on the offensive end of the court.

• Johnson may have been the best BYU player on the court tonight. He had 15 points on 6/10 shooting (2/5 from 3), 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. He played really good defense and hustled all night. But he was only1 of 4 from the FT line. If he could have hit his FTs down the stretch BYU probably wins this game in regulation.

• Atiki is definitely a work in process. I liked that Pope and company have been trying to get him a few minutes a game. Now, he’s going to have to play a lot more minutes. It will be a steep learning curve with lots of ups and downs. He got a couple of rebounds tonight but struggled overall.

• I’m not sure what to make of Knell. He got 6 points on 2/6 shooting (2/5 from 3). But he also played some tough defense, got a key steal, and also got a block. I still think he’ll play a key role on this team. He’s gotta be more consistent on his shooting (although 2/3 from 3 is not bad), but his shooting from outside is desperately needed.

A few comments on UVU:

• Aimaq is the real deal. 24 points, 22 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks. And he was 2/4 from the 3-point line. If Baxter had played the entire game, and if George had been available, I doubt his stat line would have been quite so glowing, but he’s a really good player.

• As much as I hate BYU to lose to anyone in anything, I was happy for Conner Harding. I felt bad with how things ended for him at BYU, and it’s good to see him find a nice landing place where he can make a positive contribution. And UVU is a good team with good coaches.

• A part of me feels like BYU should never play UVU in their gym, and only play them in Provo occasionally. Having said that, I think BYU and UVU have a great relationship, both between the universities and the student bodies, so it’s probably a good, neighborly thing to play this as an ongoing home-and-home series.

Final Comments:

• It seemed like since the Oregon game BYU’s level of play has gradually slipped. Maybe it’s too much early notoriety, or just some fatigue after a couple of weeks of tough games. But it has been noticeable. As painful as this loss is, maybe it’s the reality check this team needs. Life is only going to get tougher with road games coming up and playing without Baxter. Hopefully George will be OK by Saturday.

• Maybe the coaching staff needs to re-think a few things. Everything was going really well, but it takes constant effort and adjustments to keep improving. Maybe some of the younger players need a bit more PT to see what they might be able to bring to the team.

• I’m still bullish on BYU. The players and coaches are too good to let this loss deter them too much. But the Baxter injury is huge, especially coupled with the Harward situation. I think many of us may have let our expectations get a bit out of hand. BYU’s defense and rebounding have been good all year (although they tied with UVU on rebounds tonight), but their offense has got to get better. Shooting has to improve, both from the field and the FT line. Maybe the offensive scheme needs to be tweaked a bit as well. Whatever is needed I’m confident the coaching staff will address things and make adjustments.

It will be interesting to see what the next few games bring.