BYU moves to 3-0.
The Cougars scored another early win in 98-82 fashion against Queens Tuesday night at the Marriott Center, surpassing 90 points for the third straight game.
3 takeaways
BYU let it fly from deep. The Cougars hit 17 total 3-pointers out of 37 attempts against Queens, good for a 46% overall clip.
Interestingly enough, BYU has now made 46% of its 3-pointers in each of its three games this season. Go figure.
Eight different players made shots from behind the arc for the Cougars, with both Nate Pickens and Jaxon Kohler sinking three triples apiece.
Nate Pickens had his best game as a Cougar. After missing all of last season due to injury, BYU fans haven’t gotten much of a chance to see Pickens in action.
On Tuesday, he finally had a breakout performance for the Cougars.
Pickens posted a game-high plus/minus of +23 off the bench, scoring 15 points on 4 of 6 shooting with two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
BYU needs to defend the perimeter better. The Cougars may have hit a bunch of threes on Tuesday, but so did Queens.
The Royals made 14 of 34 3-pointers (41%), including shooting 50% from deep in the second half.
Queens was previously averaging more than 50 paint points per game, and BYU did a solid job containing the Royals down low, only to give up points on the perimeter instead.
On the whole, Queens shot 41% from the field and averaged less than 1.1 points per possession, still scoring 82 points due to its extreme pace-aided 76 total possessions.
BYU did force 13 turnovers while swatting eight blocks and swiping nine steals, but the 3-point defense must improve.
Of course, Queens is a reigning NCAA Tournament team that brought back most of its offensive core and has proved prolific in scoring, whereas the Cougars are still discovering their defensive identity with so many new pieces. The Royals were always going to have an advantage in that regard.
Perhaps Tuesday’s outing will help BYU to better handle fast-paced offenses in the future.