BYU Pulls Off ‘Beautiful, Ugly’ Overtime Win Over Pepperdine, Advances To WCC Title

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball takes down the Pepperdine Waves in the semifinals of the 2021 WCC Tournament. It wasn’t easy. The Cougars trailed for 40 of the 45 minutes in the game but found a way to pull off an 82-77 victory.

In the postgame press conference, BYU head coach Mark Pope said his team knows how to win “beautiful, ugly” games. He even went onto say they need to make t-shirts. Monday night’s win over Pepperdine definitely equaled “beautiful, ugly.”

#BYU pulls it off! Cougars are headed to the WCC Championship Game.#BYUHoops #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/BTLKTJLxSN

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 9, 2021

With the win, BYU improves to 20-5 overall and will now take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Tuesday night in the West Coast Conference Championship Game.

Here’s a rundown of the action from BYU’s late Monday night/early Tuesday morning win.

#BYU head coach Mark Pope after the win over Pepperdine: "What an incredible [WCC Tournament] semifinal."#BYUhoops #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/PVMautbW1l

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 9, 2021

BYU takes down Pepperdine in Overtime of WCC Semis

Alex Barcello got BYU off on the right foot in overtime, knocking down a long two to put the Cougars up 74-72.  In a game that saw BYU trail throughout, BYU never trailed in the extra period.

Spencer Johnson with the play of the night!

Steal and a save.#BYU #GoCougs #BYUHoops

📸: @BYUphoto pic.twitter.com/8vXKxt5rX5

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 9, 2021

The play of the game was out of a timeout with BYU leading 78-76 and 29.9 seconds remaining; Pepperdine attempted a pass to Kessler Edwards. BYU’s Spencer Johnson stole the ball and saved it inbounds to give BYU the possession. BYU knocked down two free throws, and that was the ball game, sending BYU to the conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2018.

BYU closed out the final 4:33 of the overtime period without a field goal and still came away with a victory.

2nd Half

BYU 72, Pepperdine 72 (End of Regulation): 

Pepperdine 68, BYU 65 (2:11): Pepperdine went five minutes between field goals and never lost the lead. Spencer Johnson had a nice defensive possession on Colbey Ross that led to a runout for Brandon Averette, who went to the line for two free throws.

Pepperdine 63, BYU 60 (4:08): The Waves have gone cold as of late. It’s been a rugged, physical battle with more charges than any of us would like to see in a late-night tipoff. BYU’s leader Alex Barcello was out for a stretch of minutes during this portion of the game.

Pepperdine 62, BYU 56 (7:25): Trevin Knell gives BYU a nice lift with five points. Despite all of the struggles where BYU found themselves down by 10, they started to chip away at the deficit. BYU has turned the ball on 27 percent of their possessions so far in this game.

Pepperdine 53, BYU 49 (11:45): BYU was down by two, and forward Gideon George had a costly turnover, giving Pepperdine the ball back to go up to four. Mark Pope screamed from the bench, “Make the simple plays!”

Pepperdine 43, BYU 39 (15:52): BYU took its first lead at 37-35, but that only lasted a few seconds. The Waves then reeled off a 9-0 run to retake control. Trevin Knell checked back into the game for the first time since Colbey Ross was going at him in the first half. Pepperdine went at him again immediately. Who knew the scouting report for the Waves involved getting in the head of Trevin Knell?

Halftime Observations from BYU in WCC Tournament

After a slow start, BYU finished the half with Pepperdine tied at 35. BYU ended outshooting the Waves in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars shot 47 percent from the field to Pepperdine’s 45 percent.

BYU didn’t lead at all in the first half. They trailed for 19:19 of the first 20 minutes and were tied for 0:41.

Alex Barcello leads BYU in scoring at eight points, with Caleb Lohner next in line at seven points and five rebounds.

#BYU closes the first half on a 13-4 run.

All tied up at the half.#BYUhoops #GoCougs #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/biZIx6Zm6e

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 9, 2021

Rough 1st Half, But BYU closes strong

BYU 35, Pepperdine 35 (HALF): What a close for BYU in the first half. There wasn’t much to write home about for BYU in the first half. BYU finished the half on a 13-4 run to go into the halftime locker room with a tied game at 35.

Alex Barcello started to come alive with a pair of three-pointers. On the defensive end, BYU has kept Colbey Ross in check, holding him to six points and zero assists in the first half.

Matt Haarms went to the bench for the final 1:11 of the half after Pepperdine’s Jade Smith ran into the back of Haarms’ shin. Haarms was grimacing when he was walking to the bench.

Pepperdine 29, BYU 22 (3:29): Officials had another review as they looked at a Kessler Edwards bucket that he put up as the shot clock expired. An instant replay appeared to suggest Edwards still had the ball in his hands, but the refs called it good.

Lohner continues to play well. He had a nice hard take to the rim off the bounce with Edwards defending him.

Pepperdine 25, BYU 20 (6:06): Of all the players so far for BYU, true freshman Caleb Lohner has come to play ball. He’s doing it all. Knocking down a three, good handles, tough rebounder, and a beautiful touch pass to set up Connor Harding for an open corner three, but Harding couldn’t knock it down.

Pepperdine 23, BYU 11 (11:04): Pepperdine’s Colbey Ross got a little chippy with BYU’s Trevin Knell. A little bit of pushing and shoving, and then Brandon Averette tried to break it up to defend his teammate. Officials caused a long delay that resulted in no fouls called—the perfect viewing experience for a 10 p.m. game.

Testy@kslsports | #PEPvsBYU #GoCougs #WCChoops https://t.co/UVl82Z52IG pic.twitter.com/vhs5CWmXuM

— Hemā Heimuli Jr. (@x_hems) March 9, 2021

Pepperdine 12, BYU 7 (14:57): BYU jumped out to a slow start against Pepperdine. The Waves were shooting 63 percent in the opening minutes of the game before the first media stoppage. BYU was only shooting 30 percent.

Nifty passing from @PeppBasketball early on! Waves lead BYU by 5 at the first timeout. #WCChoops

📺 @espn 2 pic.twitter.com/F3Gds5bZ8o

— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 9, 2021

The Cougars turned to their bench early in the game, with Mark Pope turning to Richard Harward to replace Matt Haarms. One positive for BYU’s early one was that they were +4 in offensive rebounds against the Waves. Something that was an area of concern coming out of the Pepperdine matchup in Malibu.

Pepperdine looks like the team that has found the rhythm and flow having a game under their belt in this tournament, while BYU has been on a nine-day layoff.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper and the KSL Sports app.