Instant Takeaways From BYU Basketball’s Sweet 16 Loss To No. 2 Alabama

NEWARK, N.J. – The ‘Big Dance’ came to an end for BYU basketball in the Sweet 16 as they matched up with the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday.

Although the 113-88 scoreline may paint a different picture, it was by no means a bad night for the Cougars. Alabama just put up an all-time performance with 25 threes, an NCAA Tournament record.

It was truly a bittersweet ending to a memorable season for BYU Hoops. In Kevin Young’s first year as head coach, the Cougs made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 14 years, and it took a historic outing to bounce them from the tournament.

Where was the perimeter defense?

Everyone knew this would be a high-scoring game with two of the best offenses in college basketball. But to allow 12 made three-pointers in the first half, was a little bit jarring.

Then the natural thought was, well, they will cool off. Alabama set an NCAA Tournament record for most made three-pointers in a game with seven minutes remaining.

Alabama passed Loyola Marymount’s record of 21 threes in the early 90s when the Lions defeated Michigan.

Then, with 6:30 remaining in the game, Alabama hit the century mark for points with, you guessed it, another three-pointer. The 23rd of the game.

Alabama is a prolific offense, but to allow a record-setting performance like that was surprising.

Through the first two NCAA Tournament games, Alabama hit a combined 13 three-pointers.

It makes you wonder if BYU played into the hands of Alabama and their style of play. Should they have slowed down the pace?

That’s likely second-guessing, as you have to run with what brought you to this stage. For the first time in a while, it felt like BYU didn’t have the ace up its sleeve to adjust on the fly.

Alabama took away the three-point shot from BYU basketball

BYU has been a “pick your poison” type of team this season. If you want to take away the paint, they will thrive from beyond the arc.

The same goes for taking away the three-point line. BYU is one of the best teams in the country from inside the arc.

Alabama was more than happy to allow BYU to shoot twos when they were rewriting the record books from three on their offensive end of the floor.

Alabama nearly made (25) as many three-pointers as BYU attempted in the game (29).

To make matters worse for BYU, the few three-point attempts were not falling. BYU shot 1-of-13 from three in the first half. Honestly, it was impressive they were only down 11 at the half with the disparity from three.

Related: BYU Basketball Stuns No. 3 Wisconsin, Punches Ticket To Sweet 16