By AARON SHILL
The BYU men’s basketball team apparently forgot head coach Steve Cleveland’s game plan for the Auburn Tigers: protect the ball and avoid falling behind.
The Cougars did neither in their 62-43 road loss Monday to a more physical and athletic South Eastern Conference opponent.
For the second game in a row, BYU posted an ugly number in the turnover column with 24 give-aways. But unlike Thursday’s game against Weber State, the Cougars did not take advantage of the opportunities they had, shooting a paltry 32 percent for the game.
“That’s not good enough on the road,” Cleveland said. “You have to make jump shots.”
Surprisingly, BYU stayed close for most of the game with a solid defensive and rebounding effort, according to Cleveland. Despite scoring only 15 first-half points, BYU was only down seven to an Auburn team that had its own struggles on the offensive end.
The Tigers, however, started the second half with a 15-5 run, capped off with a three pointer by Auburn guard Scott Pohlman. After falling behind 37-20, the Cougars never made a serious threat to pull closer.
BYU did put the clamps on a team that was averaging 95 points in its previous three games. The Cougars held the Tigers to 38 percent shooting.
However, Cleveland’s team was not able to execute its offense against the bigger and more physical Auburn squad, Cleveland said.
“We’re not ready at this particular point in the season to beat teams like this on the road,” he said.
Although BYU did an admirable job in the overall rebounding category, second chance points killed the Cougars. Auburn ripped down 42 rebounds, 19 of which came on the offensive end.
“We knew coming into the game that their strength was going to be not the first shot, but the second and third shots,” said sophomore guard Nathan Cooper.
Cooper was the team’s leading scorer with 14 points, while Jay Heard led the Tigers with 12. Although many of his shots dipped in and out, junior center Bret Jepsen was a force on the boards for BYU with 13 rebounds.
Jepsen’s counterpart, 7-foot center Mamadou N’diaye, flirted with a triple double while posting seven points, eight rebounds and five blocks for the Tigers.
