Funviralpark
Estimated duration: 3-4 minutes
PROVO — Like many New Year’s Eve patrons, BYU Basketball wishes 2023 good luck.
Gideon George contributed 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half, Husseini Traoré added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists as BYU left Portland 71-58 for a seven-game winning streak on Saturday night. maintained. Located at the Marriott Center.
Spencer Johnson added 9 points and 3 rebounds off the bench for BYU (12-5, 2-0 WCC).
Christian Sjölund had a game-high 32 points and 6 rebounds to lead Portland with a 38 percent field goal percentage.
“I’m proud of the guys who fought to the game plan and kept the course,” George said. I shut him down. Noah[Watterman]me and Spence. I’m proud of the whole team.”
BYU and Portland (8-9, 0-2 WCC) combined made just 2 of their first 17 field goals. This included Richie Saunders making his 0-for-8 start from his 2-point range in his first seven minutes before scoring the first point. In seven minutes he from inside the arc.
The pilots made only four of their first 18 attempts from the field, but Sjolund scored on three straight possessions to make it a 9-0 run for an 18-17 lead with 5:26 remaining. Portland used seven turnovers in five minutes to take a 4-point lead late in the second half on a 12-1 run.
The Cougars shot just 33% from the field in the first half in 12 turnovers that Portland converted to 17 points. Darrin Hall’s 3-pointer just before the horn put him 16/49 combined off the field in the first half and he was his sixth triple in the game for the two teams.
BYU coach Mark Pope trusted his instincts, believing it would work out in the end after a blistering pace that didn’t slow George’s 3-pointer 22 seconds into the game. .
“With this team, we tried a lot,” Pope said. “What I do for everyone is to be patient with each other, so we talked about what went well at halftime.”
BYU rebounded the Pilots 22-13 in the first half and held the visitors to just two offensive rebounds, but fell outside Johnson’s team-high seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench. I struggled to score.
Sjolund scored 17 points at the break, including two 3-pointers, leading all scorers.
But Hall’s bucket proved to be prophetic, or at least, a confidence-inducing one for the Cougars, who held Portland to just 3/11 and 43.5 out of the depths while going 6 in the second half. tied 16-of-25 field goals on 3-pointers in the book. % Overall.
“That three-pointer was… crap,” said George. “It was tough going backwards with the ball behind his feet, but he’s always worked on it. When you get a new guy, he just has to be patient. Those shots are going to fall. He works very hard… in those shots.
“I’m really glad I came in. It was a draw half the time.”
BYU connected on the first four shots in the second half. This included two of his 3-pointers by George and another of his 3-pointers by Waterman. That 12-3 run saw the Cougars shoot 64% of his shots in the second half, including his 7-2 spurt with 4:53 left to keep the pilots scoreless off the field for over four minutes. and helped BYU pull away completely.
BYU finished with 12 turnovers, forced 20, and outpaced the Pilots 28-16 in the paint behind a 37-26 rebounding advantage.
