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BYU Hoops Completely Dismantles No. 12 Oregon in a Nationally Televised Demolition

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Basketball

Alex Barcello led BYU with 25 points as BYU men’s basketball dealt No. 12 Oregon a resounding 81-49 defeat in the Phil Knight Invitational at the Moda Center on Tuesday night.

"We're super excited about the result tonight," said BYU head coach Mark Pope. "I'm super proud of our guys. I thought it was a great effort as a group. We're excited to keep trying to get better."

Game Notes

  • Per ESPN Stats, BYU became the first unranked team to beat a top-15 ranked team by 30 or more away from home since Nov. 29, 1993.
  • The 32-point win is BYU’s largest ever margin of victory over a ranked team.
  • Alex Barcello shot 9-of-11 from the field, 4-of-6 from three, on route to scoring a season-high 25 points.
  • Barcello went 3-of-3 from the free throw line and has now made 38 consecutive dating back to a win over Pacific in Feb. 2021. With his converted free throws versus Oregon, Barcello passed Jimmer Fredette’s March 2010 free throw streak for the third-longest in program history; 13-shy of the record set by Tyler Haws.
  • Te’Jon Lucas was the Cougars’ second-leading scorer with 12 points on 5-of-8 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and three assists.
  • Spencer Johnson and Fousseyni Traore recorded double figures, each with 10 points. Traore recorded six rebounds and two blocks.
  • As a team, BYU shot 60 percent for the game and 41 percent from three while holding the Ducks to 32 percent from the field and 21 percent from three.

The Cougars shook-off some early empty possessions and raced out to a 17-9 lead fueled by offensive rebounds, assists and suffocating defense.

BYU quickly established a presence in the paint, with Caleb Lohner and Traore scoring on early feeds into the low post.

Barcello nailed an NBA-range 3-pointer to put BYU up 11-6. Spencer Johnson scored his first points of the game with a put-back lay-in following a Traore miss. Te’Jon Lucas drew the defense away from Traore on the following possession and dished to the freshman forward for an easy lay-up.

Sequences such as these helped BYU shoot 57 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent from distance.

Nine BYU assists and 18 rebounds helped the Cougars sustain possessions on offense, while the defense held the Ducks to 19 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range. Oregon made just five first-half field goals.

The Cougars followed-up a 37-18 halftime lead with continued offensive efficiency.

Barcello and Lucas combined to score on the Cougars first six straight second-half possessions. Following a reverse lay-in early in the half, Barcello had scored on all eight of his attempts in the game to that point.

Rebounds and points in the paint continued to power the Cougar attack as the second half wore on. Following a steal from Gavin Baxter, two BYU offensive rebounds set up Seneca Knight for lay up that pushed the Cougar lead to 56-36.

For the game, BYU outrebounded Oregon 42-34 and outscored the Ducks 42-28 in the paint. The Cougars also scored 21 points off 13 forced turnovers.

While Oregon responded with two 3-pointers and trips to the free throw line, BYU quickly responded with a 3-pointer from Barcello and tip-in from Baxter on consecutive possessions.

The Cougars put the exclamation mark on their performance when Lucas lobbed an Oregon turnover ahead to Johnson who delivered a behind-the-back pass to Gideon George for a highlight-reel play punctuated with a slam dunk.

BYU emptied the bench late, allowing young guards Trey Stewart, Casey Brown, Hunter Erickson and Nate Hansen into the game. The BYU bench outscored Oregon's overall 33-6. 

BYU returns home to take on Central Methodist at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. MST.