/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70532084/merlin_2907186.0.jpg)
Forty-five seconds.
That’s how lengthy it took for the trajectory of BYU’s season to vary drastically.
In fact, rather a lot has occurred through the Cougars’ precipitous slide over the previous few weeks, and there are many causes for that.
However it started with an exasperating 45 seconds at Santa Clara on Jan. 27.
Again on that date, going into that recreation, BYU boasted a 17-4 file, was projected as a No. 7 or No. 8 NCAA Match seed, had an NCAA NET rating of No. 28 and it was No. 23 within the KenPom.com rankings. It was only one spot exterior of the Related Press Prime 25 rankings.
The beginning of the Cougars’ collapse may be traced again to a sure 45 seconds.
That’s how a lot time remained on the Leavey Heart when BYU led the Broncos 74-70 — and had the ball. In accordance with KenPom.com and ESPN, the Cougars had a 90% probability of successful the sport at that time.
All the things that would go improper did go improper.
First, BYU had a turnover on an inbounds cross from Te’Jon Lucas to Gideon George, then it gave up a 3-pointer to PJ Pipes with 42.5 seconds left.
Fousseyni Traore scored on a putback to propel the Cougars to a 76-73 benefit with 16 seconds remaining.
Then Jalen Williams went coast-to-coast for a bucket with 8.8 seconds to make it 76-75. BYU struggled to get the ball inbounds once more, however Spencer Johnson went to the free-throw line, the place he missed with 6.5 seconds on the clock.
That was sufficient time for Williams to dribble the size of the courtroom and rating within the paint simply earlier than the ultimate buzzer. Remaining: Santa Clara 77, BYU 76.
It could possibly be argued that the Cougars’ heartbreaking loss that evening led, 48 hours later, to a hangover at lowly Pacific, the place they inexplicably fell to a Tiger workforce that was ranked No. 303 within the NET and had misplaced seven straight video games.
Then got here back-to-back dwelling losses to San Francisco and then-No. 2 Gonzaga, extending the the shedding streak to 4.
BYU was in a position to eke out a pair of street wins over Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine the next weekend to snap the shedding streak, earlier than Saturday’s 69-64 defeat at Saint Mary’s.
The place do the Cougars discover themselves now?
BYU (19-9, 7-6) has misplaced 5 of its final seven video games. It's in fifth place within the West Coast Convention standings. Earlier than this season, the Cougars have by no means completed decrease than third place since becoming a member of the WCC in 2011-12.
BYU, which has a 3-4 file in Quad 1 video games and a 4-4 file in Quad 2 video games, is ranked No. 54 within the NET. And it's on the surface wanting in, in keeping with many bracketologists’ NCAA Match projections. As of Sunday morning, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi stored BYU in his “First 4 Out.”
The Cougars’ at-large NCAA Match hopes are hanging by a thread. Amongst their issues — they don’t have any video games left on the regular-season schedule to enhance their metrics, they usually must rely on different bubble groups to lose video games, not to mention fret about bid-stealers in upcoming convention tournaments.
In fact, the WCC’s computerized bid will probably be at stake through the WCC Match in Las Vegas in early March, however top-ranked Gonzaga has captured 18 of the final 23 match titles. BYU has by no means received the WCC Match.
For now, the Cougars could be the No. 5 seed within the WCC Match and must play within the second-round recreation on Friday, March 4. They must win two video games simply to advance to Monday’s semifinal recreation for the fitting to play the Zags.
What does all of it imply?
Properly, BYU is probably going headed for the, um, Nationwide Invitation Match. One NIT bracketology web site has the Cougars as a No. 2 seed within the 32-team area.
Postseason prospects apart, after three straight street video games, BYU finally ends up the common season at dwelling in opposition to Loyola Marymount Thursday and Pepperdine Saturday.
When requested about what Saturday’s setback at Saint Mary’s meant to his workforce’s NCAA Match hopes, coach Mark Pope stated, “I don’t know any of that. I do know a win would have been tremendous useful. For us proper now, we’ve simply bought to discover a option to regroup and play in opposition to a very powerful LMU workforce on Thursday. That’s bought to be all of our focus proper now. We’ll see how a lot we are able to enhance on this final 10 days earlier than the WCC Match.”
BYU constructed a powerful, NCAA Match-worthy resume within the preseason — do not forget that 32-point domination of Oregon in Portland in November? — solely to look at it unravel throughout WCC play.
It began throughout a troublesome 45-second stretch at Santa Clara in late January.
And now, it seems that the Cougars’ postseason vacation spot in March has modified drastically.