SALT LAKE CITY – Once a one-man show with Alex Barcello, BYU basketball continued to find other options Thursday night.
This time, it was Caleb Lohner’s turn.
Wasatch Academy’s first year added 19 career highs, including five triples, to add nine rebounds in 28 minutes, while BYU secured an 80-52 victory over Pacific in the Cougars ’first game in nearly two weeks Thursday. night at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, California.
Coming out of a ten-day game without a game, Barcello added 15 points, five assists and three steals for BYU, and Brandon Averette scored 8 of his 10 points in the second half to accompany seven assists and three rebounds. Trevin Knell contributed 15 points, including four 3s, off the Cougars bench (16-5, 7-3 WCC).
“That’s exactly what I imagined,” Lohner told BYU Radio. “The last ten days of not playing, we’ve been working hard. I think a lot of teams in the country aren’t practicing that much … but I think we’ve really taken advantage of that time. We figured out what we needed to do to improve, and I think we’ve proved that we have improved tonight “.
Matt Haarms provided eight points and seven rebounds to BYU, who scored 13 triples and outscored the Tigers 31-22.
However, no one got hotter than Lohner.
🅻🅾🅷🅽🅴🆁 💥@CBSSportsNet | @BYUbasketball#WCChoopspic.twitter.com/LPSI5m7k0P
– WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) February 19, 2021
“I felt good, from the first to the second, I progressed with more confidence,” Lohner said. “I was shooting the ball well and I knocked it over all night.
“I just think we’re getting better and better. We’re working hard and finding ways to improve. I’m very proud of the way our team is coming together and continually improving.”
Broc Finstuen scored 12 points and two rebounds to lead Pacific, and Jordan Bell added 5 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers (6-7, 3-6 WCC) just three weeks after BYU managed to double overtime. Try it.
In contrast, after Gonzaga’s No. 1 loss in his last outing, the Cougars have yet to lose consecutive games in the second season of head coach Mark Pope.
“It’s embedded in the culture of how our guys respond,” Pope told BYU Radio. “We wonder that after every game … and the fact that they think about it all the time and that’s where it focuses, is a tribute to the boys. We have a very special group of guys.”
Lohner, who started Thursday night, saw a big burst of touches when Gideon George was forced to the bench with early foul problems, and the Texas native made good use of it. Lohner scored 8 points, four rebounds and an assist in just seven minutes as the Cougars won an 18-13 lead with 9:55 at halftime.
BYU never went back.
Knell threw a 7-0 run with a 7:26 triple on the left that lifted the Cougars to a 26-19 lead. Spencer Johnson extended the lead to double digits just under three minutes later, and BYU took a 38-26 lead at the break.
BYU made three of their first six 3-point attempts to open the half, including consecutive Barcello and Averette triples, to secure an 8-0 run in 90 seconds with a 50-33 lead.
They are two so far @caleblohner 😎#BYUhoops x # MACU3pic.twitter.com/1OUqzRfClH
– BYU Basketball (@BYUbasketball) February 19, 2021
It didn’t stop here.
Lohner punched his third 3-point game at 12:55 of the end, propelling the Cougars to a 55-35 lead just three weeks into the 7-point double-overtime victory over Provo over the Tigers. Moments later, the Wasatch Academy product from outside Dallas prepared its fourth triple to end a 16-2 run, and BYU never looked back.
His only field goal from inside the arc was an alley in transition, where Lohner showed off his hops and helped the Cougars advance to the break.
“We see his athletics over and over again,” Pope said. “He came out with incredible offensive rebounds … and that lane was definitely amazing.
“But the best thing he did tonight was his defensive performance. Caleb was basically whole all night defensively, and that’s not easy. He did such a good job.”
On a night that brought good news for two BYU basketball teams (the women’s squad upset Gonzaga’s No. 16, 61-56 in Provo), the Cougars looked like an NCAA tournament from multiple angles.
BYU shot 13 of 27 from 3-point goal, 13 of 27 from 2-point distance and assisted in 17 of 26 field goals. The Cougars also kept the Tigers with a 40% shot in the second half, including 0 for 7 from depth.
“I thought Trevin was great tonight,” Pope said. “He got into the rotation earlier because of Gideon’s serious problems, but I love Trevin when he comes in with a chip in his shoulder. That’s when he’s at his best.”