BYU and Saint Mary’s both went into Thursday’s matchup looking for their first West Coast Conference win, but only BYU succeeded. The Cougars usually don’t have much success in the University Credit Union Pavilion, but were able to prevent get their second-ever win in Moraga, Calif., beating the Gaels 62-52 on the road.
1. In the still-young Mark Pope era, the Cougars have yet to lose consecutive games: The Cougars had a tall order, playing just their second game in three weeks, both against top WCC foes, but were able to come out with split results.
2. The Gaels led the majority of the game, starting on a 5-0 lead, but fizzled at the end: BYU was able to keep Saint Mary’s scoreless for nearly 10 minutes near the end of the game. The Cougars closed out on a 19-2 run, while the Gaels were 1 of last 12.
3. The Cougars, usually hot from beyond the arc, never found their long shot: BYU made only one of 10 attempts from beyond the arc, made by Trevin Knell, who got his first career start Thursday.
