St. Mary's Thrashes BYU in WCC Semifinals

LAS VEGAS - “We were a step slow tonight,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose after his team was defeated 81-50 against No. 19 St. Mary’s in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament. The worst loss of the Dave Rose era at BYU (since 2005).

A step slow would be putting it nicely, BYU was a full length of the basketball court slow tonight.

BYU started the game 1-8 from the field and the Gaels never looked back. St. Mary’s shot 52-percent from beyond the three-point line, led by the “BYU killer” Calvin Hermanson who knocked four of those 13 three-point makes by the Gaels.

“I’m disappointed in how we responded to challenges in that first half,” said Rose. “And when the game then got away from us and everything they [St. Mary] do in practice was working out we just got a step slower.”

BYU closes out their season with a 22-11 record as they will have to wait their postseason fate on Sunday. One thing for sure is that fate will not include an NCAA Tournament bid. The Cougars are expected to go to the NIT for the third time in four years. Something no one saw coming entering this season as BYU boasted arguably the most talented roster of the Dave Rose era.

That talent looks a lot different now than it did in November. The faces are pretty much the same and everyone is likely to return, but BYU ends West Coast Conference play with a 1-4 record against the league’s big two. Outside of the win at Gonzaga to close out the regular season, the other four games were losses by double-digits.

BYU center Eric Mika was kept in check all night against St. Mary’s big man Jock Landale. The Gaels were skilled, played with more confidence, and were better coached as well.

“I think moving forward we have to let it sting and be able to grow from it,” said forward Elijah Bryant who scored 11 points. “Like Coach (Rose) said we are a young team, but we still have to allow this to sting, that way it can motivate us for our next game.”

The sting from this loss should not only carry over into the next game, but it will need to be a motivating force for Dave Rose and his entire program heading into offseason.

Mitch Harper is the Publisher of Cougar Nation and is the host of the Cougar Center Podcast. Follow him on Twitter/Snapchat: @Mitch_Harper.