Postgame notes: San Francisco 82, BYU 74

The following notes and quotes are from BYU’s 82-74 loss to San Francisco on Thursday evening at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco, Calif. 

Series Results: BYU leads series 23-12 including a 9-7 record at War Memorial Gymnasium. 

Attendance:

TEAM NOTES

Pick-Pockets

BYU forced 17 San Francisco turnovers in the 8-point loss to the Dons, 11 of which came by way of steals. Gideon George and Richie Saunders tallied three steals apiece while Jaxson Robinson snatched two steals on the night.

Turnover Trouble

The Cougars turned the ball over 11 times in the first half leading to 18 points for the Dons. In the second stanza, BYU treasured the ball only coughing the ball up four times. San Francisco scored 25 points off the 15 BYU turnovers.

Bench Contributions

BYU averages 22.4 bench points per game and in the opening period, 11 of the Cougars’ 28 first half points came off the bench. When it was all said and done, the bench accounted for 37 points, the fourth-most in a game this season.

Making Them Count

BYU shot over 80.0 percent from the free throw line for the seventh time this season as the Cougars were 13-of-16 from the charity stripe.

Points in the Paint

The Cougars scored over 30 points in the paint for the third-straight game.

PLAYERS NOTES

Mr. Consistent

Jaxson Robinson went 3-of-5 from behind the arc marking the 11th straight game the sophomore has made at least one 3-pointer in a game. He also scored in double figures for the tenth time this season, finishing with 11 points.

Rudi, Rudi, Rudi

Rudi Williams finished with a season-high 28 points, making him one of three players in program history to score 25+ off the bench in three games in a single season (Kari Liimo, Matt Carlino).

Williams scored a combined 52 points in the Bay Area road trip, 16 points more than he scored in the first six WCC games combined. 

CAREER HIGHS

• Blocks: Rudi Williams (1)
• Steals: Richie Saunders (3), Gideon George (3)

SEASON HIGHS

• Points: Rudi Williams (28)
• Field Goals: Rudi Williams (10)
• Blocks: Spencer Johnson (1)

QUOTES

Head coach Mark Pope

Overall Thoughts on Game

“I thought our energy and effort is not what we expect as a team. I thought we were supremely outcoached. I felt like our fight was lacking. Our defense really failed us. We are still starting out the game poorly and turning the ball over. We had no presence on the offensive glass. It’s hard to find something that we did good tonight. Players, coaches, everybody.”

What did you tell the team after the game?

“I told them that I am going to do a better job. Together we have to learn the price of winning and that is not easy. It’s part of the process we have to go through.”

Turnovers issues

“It’s super disappointing. We haven’t been able to find answers to that and I am disappointed with our lack of progress on that.”

San Francisco hitting 12 3-pointers

“We started out with a dearth of all shell principles, just disappointing. This start to the game was surprising and disappointing. They got going and made some tough shots. That is what they do. They shoot the fourth most amount of 3-pointers in the country. They really live on the 3-point, they spread the floor and shoot it 1-5. It’s not surprising, we just couldn’t find an answer.”

Jaxson Robinson

What stands out about tonight’s loss to San Francisco?

“Defensively, we weren’t there. We weren’t present. They hit a lot of threes, got to the free throw line. We didn’t execute.”