It had been 10 days since the men's basketball team last played a game – and it was evident on Tuesday night.
Despite a hot start, Buffalo's upset bid succumbed to the Brigham Young (9-3) sharpshooting and rebounding prowess. The Bulls (6-3) jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first five minutes. But thanks in part to a 16-5 BYU run, the Cougars gained the lead midway through the first half. They would never relinquish the advantage and took the contest handily, 93-78.
Buffalo was overpowered in almost every statistical category on the evening, but nothing stood out as much as the lackluster performance on the glass. The Bulls came in ranked fourth in the nation in rebounding, averaging 42.6 per game, but Buffalo could only haul in four offensive rebounds to the Cougars' 11, which BYU would turn into 17 second chance points.
"What ended up happening is we got 53 shots and they got 64," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "You have to credit [the Cougars], they came in and blocked out hard, and it's nothing we didn't expect. But we didn't respond to it with enough effort."
BYU used those extra shots to spread the scoring around to a number of different players. Four Cougars finished in double figures, but was an unlikely pair that would steal the show. Lengthy swingman Brock Zylstra and young guard Anson Winder combined for 46 of their team's points, after averaging just eight and four points per game, respectively, so far this year.
Zylstra set a career-high with 26 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc. Winder – who came off the bench – also took advantage of the three-ball, going 6-for-7 from downtown. Those two played a large role in the Cougars' dominance from long range, finishing 13-of-29 – good for 45 percent.
"[Defending the three] is something that is concerning," Witherspoon said. "There were some that they shot over us, and you're going to have that. But you can't give them open [shots], and they got some open ones."
The 3-pointers were just part of the Cougars' offensive onslaught that dismantled the Buffalo defense. Brigham Young went 34-of-64 from the field. While Buffalo put up solid numbers offensively as well, it was no match for the Cougars.
Senior forward Mitchell Watt turned in 18 points and eight rebounds, leading the team in both categories. Watt was closely followed by his post mate, sophomore forward Javon McCrea, who had 16 points. Senior Guard Zach Filzen also continued his hot shooting, pouring in four threes and 14 points. Senior guard Dave Barnett rounded out the Bulls in double figures with 10 points.
The Brigham Young defense was certainly reluctant to give open shots to the Bulls' jump shooters. With the Bulls up 14-3 just four minutes into the contest, BYU head coach Dave Rose switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone, which would give the Bulls fits.
"I think [BYU] made a concerted effort in their zone [to shut down the Bulls' shooters]," Witherspoon said. "I think in their man-to-man Zach was going to get shots. In the zone they made an effort to try to lock onto [Filzen] and not let him get open shots."
The zone defense was just enough to trip up a Bulls offense that still shot 53 percent from the field.
That offense may have something to be concerned about moving forward as well, as one of the most reliable players, Javon McCrea, had to leave the game late with an injury to his foot. According to Witherspoon he was "struggling a little bit."
Luckily for McCrea, he will have plenty of time before the Bulls return to action. It will be another eight days before Buffalo will take the floor again, this time in Philadelphia. The Bulls will take on Temple (7-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
