The Cougars played their first game of the Rady Children’s Invitational on Thursday afternoon vs. No. 23 Ole Miss. What had been a close game at the close of regulation quickly got away from BYU in the final minutes. The Cougars just couldn’t get a stop when they needed one.

A major storyline in this game, especially the second half, was the whistle – foul calls made it hard for either team to get into a rhythm. The second half was a hard-fought, physical, inconsistently officiated battle. Ole Miss finished the first half 2/3 from the free throw line, and by the end of the game had gone 29/36. The Cougars finished 21/26.

The Rebels also won the turnover battle, forcing 17 BYU turnovers with only 9 of their own.

While the outcome wasn’t what BYU hoped for, there were a few bright spots in today’s game that should give fans some hope for the rest of the season.

FOUSS

BYU’s favorite big man did his usual damage in the paint. All in a day’s work for Fouss. In 24 minutes he went for 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 16 points, a dominant performance against Ole Miss veteran big man Jaemyn Brakefield. Brakefield was held to just 4 points on the night.

Big 12 Physicality

The Cougars will face tough, physical opponents like this all season. If they let opponents disrupt their halfcourt offense and force bad passes and shot attempts, this will be a long season. But, at the end of the day, BYU was able to hang with a tough, veteran Ole Miss team – they just couldn’t hang on for the win.

We just saw a new BYU squad face its first real adversity of the season so far. Defense needs to level up and the Cougars need to take better care of the ball against opportunistic opponents, but for the first test of the season, there’s a lot to be excited about.

This team is only going to get better.