BYU's backcourt falls short in loss to Texas Tech

Texas Tech beat BYU 72-67 Tuesday night at the Marriott Center in another game where BYU’s backcourt came up short for the Cougars.

The Cougars' backcourt of Egor Demin and Dallin Hall was supposed to be one of the strongest parts of this BYU team — two gifted playmakers who have the ability create quality offense and run Kevin Young’s system to perfection.

Both guards are supposed to be reliable options at the end of the shot clock and end of games with the ball in their hands to get BYU good looks on offense. But that just is not happening right now. The offense goes through long stretches of poor execution and pace. Now that the Cougars are 14 games into the season, it should look better than it does right now.

Against the Red Raiders, it was eye-opening how much of a difference there was between the two backcourts.

Texas Tech’s backcourt, comprised of Elijah Hawkins and Chance McMillian, was instrumental in its road victory. Hawkins torched BYU from the 3-point line, as he shot 6 of 9 from 3 and led Texas Tech with 22 points, five assists and zero turnovers.

He kept Texas Tech in the game. Anytime BYU jumped out to a lead it was always Hawkins who stalled BYU’s momentum hitting big shot after big shot. McMillian started the game slow but turned it on in the second half scoring 14 of his 16 points in to close out the Cougars. He and Darion Williams closed the game strong in the final eight minutes to steal the game on road.

“I thought those guys just hung in there and Chance broke the game open with a couple 3s from Elijah,” said Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland.

The Texas Tech backcourt carried their team throughout the game, combining to score 38 points, on 12 of 21 from the field along with 12 rebounds, five assists and one turnover. Meanwhile, BYU’s backcourt struggled. Demin and Hall combined to score 18 points on 6 of 16 from the field along with seven assists and five turnovers.

Demin scored 12 points on 4 of 12 shooting, six assists and two turnovers. His 12 shots were the most he has taken in a game since BYU’s loss to Ole Miss in November where he attempted 13 field goals.

“You know Egor still I think is trying to figure out where his spots are to best score the basketball,” said BYU coach Kevin Young.

Demin had multiple layups fall mercilessly off the rim and had multiple 3s rim out. His recent shooting struggles have been difficult to overcome for the Cougars offensively. At the end of the game, Demin made his first 3-point shot since that same Ole Miss game.

Hall has also struggled on offense this season. In 10 games, Hall has only cracked double-figures scoring in three of them, and is averaging a career low 7.1 points per game.

Hall missed the early part of the season with a foot injury, and still has not found any consistency so far this year. Tuesday, against the Red Raiders, Hall scored six points in a row, flashing the Hall of his freshman and sophomore seasons where he would take over games in stretches. But that moment was fleeting, as he finished the game 2 of 6 from the field with six points, three assists and three turnovers.

The weakness of BYU’s backcourt reared its ugly head when BYU needed it most, at the end of the game. One of the problems for BYU’s backcourt closing games right now is that it can be too pick-and-roll dependent.

“That is one thing that is tough with the group. We don’t have a ton of just break you off the dribble guys,” said Young. “And to close, close games you need that. So we have to be a bit more creative offensively where I can put these guys with better positions.”

BYU, as it sits right now, is outside the NCAA Tournament field according to Joe Lunardi and other bracketologists. The Cougars have plenty of opportunities left to play themselves into the field but they need Demin and Hall to pick up the pace scoring and creating better offense. If they don’t, it will be quiet, disappointed Provo in March.