BYU Basketball Takeaways From Senior Night Win Over San Francisco
Feb 25, 2023, 10:54 PM | Updated: Feb 27, 2023, 9:44 am
BYU basketball takes on the USC Trojans in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament. (Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
(Ben B. Braun, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The BYU basketball team dominated San Francisco on senior night at the Marriott Center, 87-61.
It was the final home game as a member of the West Coast Conference.
Next time BYU plays a game inside the Marriott Center there will be a different conference logo on the court.
Breakdown from the Marriott Center from @baiamontematt as the Cougars finished WCC play with a big win over San Francisco 87-61. #BYU #BYUhoops pic.twitter.com/2em8nY1pad
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 26, 2023
BYU is at its best when it’s finding the open guy
BYU came into the game having lost seven of its last nine games.
During that stretch, BYU only assisted on 108/230 (47%) of its made field goals.
Saturday night was a different story. The Cougars logged assists on 13 of their 15 (87%) first-half buckets and 22/30 (73%) overall.
Rudi Williams got the start at point guard and dished out a team-high seven assists.
The seniors showed out in their last home game
Senior forward Gideon George came out hot, hitting back-to-back threes early as part of a 12-point night.
The senior from Nigeria also pulled down six boards and had a block.
The seniors are rockin’ and rollin’ early on for #BYU.
Gideon George just hit back-to-back triples in front of the dons bench.
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) February 26, 2023
Rudi Williams scored 21 points and was two assists short of a career-high with seven. All seven assists came in the first half.
Williams connected on 15-of-16 free throw attempts, a career-high for both attempts and makes.
BYU fans are Big 12 ready
Despite the losing record in conference,15,990 fans showed up to the final home game of the WCC era.
That puts the final average attendance number at 14,117.
Wins will be hard to come by in year one of the Big 12, but there’s no doubt that the fans will show out.
The Marriott Center will be one of the top environments in the entire country next season night in, night out.
With the win, BYU secures the 5 seed in the WCC Tournament and will face the winner of Portland versus San Diego on Friday, March 3, in Las Vegas.
