Hot-shooting BYU bursts past N. Iowa in NIT
Photo supplied, BYU Photo
BYU forward Gideon George (5) dunks the ball against Northern Iowa in an NIT second-round game Saturday, March 19, 2022, in Provo.PROVO — The significance of the National Invitational Tournament can be debated by fans and media but, to the players, it simply means another opportunity to keep playing with their teammates.
“It’s always great to get a win in March,” BYU guard Te’Jon Lucas said.
The Cougars had a huge second half Saturday to pull away from Northern Iowa in the second round of the NIT, finishing with a 90-71 victory in front of 7,550 at the Marriott Center.
Junior Gideon George put on a show, scoring a career-high 27 points. BYU made 16 3-pointers, tying a season best, to stay alive in the postseason. George tied his season high in the first half with 18 points and stayed hot, finishing 10 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 9 from the 3-point line.
Trevin Knell also made bank from beyond the arc, knocking down five triples and scoring 15 points. Lucas had 14 points and eight assists while helping to slow down AJ Green, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year.
Alex Barcello was just 1 of 8 from the 3-point line for BYU (24-10) but contributed 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Lucas and Barcello combined for 15 of the Cougars’ 22 assists and just three turnovers.
Green finished with 16 points for Northern Iowa (20-12) but was just 6 of 15 from the field. Noah Carter led the Panthers with 24 points but the visitors cooled off considerably in the second half and made only 12 of 31 (38%) from the field and 4 of 13 (31%) from beyond the arc.
After BYU led 47-42 at halftime, Carter threw down a dunk for Northern Iowa to trim the score to 51-49 early in the second half. But Johnson dropped in a 3-pointer, Lucas scored on a drive and then fired an alley-oop pass on the break to Atiki Ally Atiki for a huge dunk, pushing the BYU lead to 61-51 with 14:54 to play.
The Cougars scored 11 straight points in a 17-2 run and Barcello had a 3-pointer and a layup for a 68-51 advantage with 11:44 remaining. BYU had no trouble maintaining a sizable lead the rest of the way.
BYU will play at home one more time against other Cougars, that of Washington State (21-14) after WSU defeated SMU on Sunday.
That game will tip off at at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a game that will air on ESPN2. The winner goes to the NIT semifinals in a trip to New York’s Madison Square Garden.