LAWRENCE, Kan. — After leading his team to a win over No. 7 Kansas on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse, BYU coach Mark Pope said the 76-68 win was the best part of where it happened. He said it was a memorable experience for some reason.
“I think the players agree that everyone who grows up knows what this place is about, and this was my first time stepping into a game and this I've never seen an atmosphere like that,” Pope said after the Jayhawks' 19th game. -Game home winning streak. “It's actually really special. It's a great team. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to come here and compete. This is one of the meccas of college basketball.”
But late in the second half, Pope thought he might have disrupted his team's rhythm and given them a chance for an upset. He received a technical foul after he had a lively conversation with the umpire during a timeout with 7 minutes and 50 seconds remaining.
But instead of bringing the team together on a technical level, Pope said the Cougars were forced to refocus.
“I was frustrated at that moment,” Pope said. “I wish I was some genius coach who was like, 'I'm going to get the tech now and get the team together.' That's a little disingenuous. The conversation we had was that the tech called me.” I was actually surprised that he called…eventually, I said, [two points] My players had perfect composure against other teams as well. And in this environment, in this atmosphere, it's really difficult to do that. I think that was the best part of the technology for me because it's a credit to them and how well they work together and how much they trust each other. ”
BYU erased a double-digit lead with a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half (7-of-15 after halftime). And Kansas struggled to generate offense from half-court sets, missed crucial free throws late and failed to defend the perimeter when BYU took control after intermission.
This was the 18th home loss since coach Bill Self took over at Kansas in 2003. The game also ended several other notable Jayhawks winning streaks, including an 82-game home winning streak when leading at halftime and a 67-game home winning streak against inferior opponents. Ta. Opponent.
Self said he expected a below-average performance before the game even started.
“You could feel this coming at shootaround today,” he said. “It was a terrible shootaround. My concentration wasn't very good, my energy level wasn't very good. From an attitude standpoint, it doesn't matter. You have days like this all season. Thing”
With Kevin McCuller Jr. out for Game 5 with a knee contusion, Kansas couldn't find an offensive spark to match BYU's energy in the final minutes. Self recently said McCullough, an All-American candidate and projected first-round pick in this summer's NBA draft, would not return this season unless he is healthy and ready to help the Jayhawks in the postseason.
After Tuesday's loss, Self seemed to indicate the team was moving forward with the idea that McCuller would not return.
“We're preparing him to not do that.” [return]“This is who we are,” Self said. When we're good, we're pretty good, but when we're not, we're not. We played pathetic tonight. …It would be helpful if there was… [McCullar] return. But we've been dealing with this for about 5 weeks and he hasn't been where he should be from a health standpoint. Even when he was playing, he wasn't himself.we are not counting on [his return]. We hope that happens, but we're not counting on it. ”
But Self noted that the team's personnel challenges did not diminish BYU's victory. BYU has won four games against AP-ranked opponents this season, the second-most in a season in the polling era (since 1948-49).
Pope said the Cougars, who are making their first trip to Fogg since 1971, enter the Big 12 “humbled” and understand the challenges they will face in America's toughest league, according to metrics such as KenPom. . But he said Tuesday's road win in BYU's first season in the conference was the result of a team that stayed strong until the end.
“This is really special for us because a lot of people can't beat them at home,” said BYU guard Jackson Robinson, who scored a game-high 18 points with teammate Darrin Hall. “We know we’re not done yet, so there’s still a lot to accomplish.”
Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.