BYU Basketball recap: Cougars drop another heartbreaker in Maui, fall to Purdue

After putting up 121 the day before, the BYU Cougars looked to come back with their second consecutive win in the Maui Tournament as they face the Purdue Boilermakers. Nobody new what to expect as the late night, double overtime game on Monday took a lot out of the Cougars both mentally and physically. The fifth place game, and third in three days, was physical on both sides of the ball as 53 fouls were called and 68 free throws were taken in the 87-85 overtime loss.

First Half

Both teams came out flat and struggled to makes shots as BYU held a slim 6-4 lead at the first media timeout. The first bucket of the game belonged to Tyler Haws on a three point shot from the left side. Soon the struggles would begin as the Cougars made it to the free throw line early, but only hit 50%. The Boilermakers would not let the early struggles continue as they took their first lead at 9-8 with 14 minutes left in the half. Both offenses had a hard time finding their rhythm as the officials whistles blew early and often with seven fouls called in the first eight minutes. BYU briefly took back the lead at 10-9 on an Isaac Nielson shot. The lead would increase to 15-11 as Anson Winder would hit a three with just under 13 minutes left.

The Cougars defense started tough as they forced five turnovers in the first eight minutes but BYU couldn't capitalize as Purdue increased their defensive intensity. Six blocked shots and a slew of bad shots by the Cougars led to a shooting percentage of less than 39% in the first half. After a scoring drought of more than six minutes, the Cougars finally broke the defense and managed to pull within five, 40-35, at the half. A controversial call didn't help the Cougars as Haws went up and blocked a shot and came down with the ball. After tossing the ball to a wide open Winder, the officials called it back and gave the ball to Purdue citing an inadvertent whistle. BYU struggled inside and out in the half as they finished 3-10 from behind the arc. Just before the end of the half the Cougars forced a poor shot by the Boilermakers that ended with a loose ball foul, putting Corbin Kaufusi to the line. Two missed free throws continued the trend of free throw struggles as BYU ended the half shooting 62.5% from the line.

2nd Half

The Cougars started off strong on offense as the first possession turned into an ally opp layup, but then gave up a three on the defensive side of the ball. The Cougars quickly forced Purdue big man AJ Hammons out of the game with his third foul and 18 minutes left in the game. For the first time of the night Chase Fischer hit a shot as he knocked down a three pointer, pulling the Cougars within two. The teams would continue to play each other tough and both teams fought foul trouble. Just after the first media timeout, Fischer hit his second three of the game, giving BYU a 48-47 lead. After a remarkable steal and dunk by Kyle Collinsworth the Boilermakers called a time out as the Cougars capped an 11-2 run and led 50-47.

The teams would continue to battle back and forth but Purdue once again took the lead and extended it to four at 58-54. As the fouls continued to build up the Boilermakers increased their lead to six. The Cougars continued to battle back and Dalton Nixon hit his first three pointer of the season to tie the game at 66. Shortly afterwards, Winder hit 1 of 2 free throws to give BYU the 69-68 lead. The teams continued to go back and forth before Luke Worthington fouled out with just over four minutes to play, hindering the Cougars presence in the paint. BYU once again took the lead on a long two by Haws to lead  77-75 with 2:18 left in the game.

Haws would then hit another shot, giving him 30, to increase the lead to three with under two to go. with 1:37 left Austin would foul out on a loose ball foul after an unadvised three point shot by Haws. With two free throws the Boilermakers took back the lead 80-79. The game quickly became a free throw shooting contest, and tied at 81. With under 30 seconds in the game, Nielson drove to the hoop and missed the layup, but kept the ball alive and the Cougars wrapped up the rebound. With the chance to hold for the last shot Coach Dave Rose called timeout to set up the last play. The Cougars held for the last shot and got the shot they were looking for but Haws couldn't hit the game winner, leading to overtime.

Overtime

Purdue started off the scoring with an easy layup. BYU looked tired and seemed to be leaving their shots short and Purdue came out the aggressors. The Cougars didn't score in the first two minutes of overtime but their defense kept them in it. Bad decisions, by Haws on a pass and Fischer on a shot, kept the Cougars off the board. The Cougars finally scored with two minutes to play, pulling within two at 85-83. It appeared that Collinsworth may have injured himself on the play and left for a bit but came back with 46 seconds left in overtime. A block on the defensive end gave the Cougars a chance but an offensive foul by Collinsworth gave the Boilermakers the ball. Fate would make up for the ticky-tack foul when Purdue lost the ball out of bounds to give it right back with 26.1 to go. A foul with 14.4 put Collinsworth to the line with the chance to tie. Collinsworth came up clutch but there was to much time on the clock as Purdue ran a play to Hammons for the shot and an 87-85 win. Tyler Haws led all scorers with 32 points with Winder adding 18. Collinsworth dished out eight assists and recorded six steals in the loss. The Cougars were once again out rebounded in the game with Purdue pulling down 38 rebounds to the Cougars 33.

Next Game

BYU will come home to take on Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, November 29th at 7:30 pm. The game will be televised on BYUtv.