Brigham Young basketball preview:

#58 R.P.I. Brigham Young University @ #68 R.P.I. Virginia Tech:

TV coverage: 7pm Wednesday on ESPN3
Vegas line: VT-2
o/u=14o
$-Line= VT is a 1.35:1 favorite, BYU is a 1:1.15 underdog

Dearest University of Virginia:

“Nobody puts baby in a corner!”
Nobody!

That rivalry moment brought to you courtesy of a 47-45 highly upsetting 8-point underdog win by your beloved Virginia Tech Hokies up at The John where Vah.Tech scored a royal-flush of a finish vis-à-vis the 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 off-suit hand of hooVa. C’est la guerre frenchies.

That said, we do have a rather tough looking game with Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars up next inside the Cassell on Wednesday night that is anything other than a gimme.

BYU hails from the West Coast conference where they have gone 17-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play. To canvas the Cougars season thus far in generic broad-brush terms … BYU has beaten whom they were supposed to beat every bit as much as BYU has been beaten when stepping up in class. This 2011-2012 Cougar hoops squad is surely a post-season player, though it remains to be seen if they are playing as a NC2A team or an N.I.T. club. Right now I’d have to give a moderate lean towards a NC2A tourney bid come March Madness; though that is not exactly set in stone just yet.

What is for sure is that Brigham Young is a dang fine offensive team that is also noticeably above average on defense and even better on the glass. Or in other words, VT is gonna have to bring their A-game for this one, even while playing at home.

That said, VT does have some real live big-Mo’ (or momentum) on their side after beating their #1 rival on Sunday night; and VT might just be catching Brigham Young at just the right time –as the Cougars host nationally ranked St.Mary’s at home on national TV next Saturday night. This makes this odd-ball mid-week out-of-conference match-up something of the proverbial look-ahead-trap game for BYU.

BYU at a glance:

4^th best in assists per game (18.5)
13^th in scoring offense (80 ppg)
17^th in offensive rebounding
20^th in offensive FG percentage (48.4%)
20^th in rebounding margin (+6.9)
43^rd in defensive FG percentage allowed (39.7)

BYU Frontcourt:

• N.B.A. pros=2 overseas quality guys (Davies, Hartsock)
• Injuries=3
• r-Freshman F-C Ian Howard, 6`10“ 215 lbs. is out indefinitely for some kind of “undisclosed illness” (no stats available)
• Sophomore Chris Collingsworth (no relation), 6`9“ 235 lbs. and his multiple knee-surgeries are also out indefinitely along with his 6 points and 6 rebounds per game from last year
• Junior F Stephen Rodgers, 6`8“ 195 lb. swing who averages 8 points and 2 rebounds off the Cougar bench has a torn meniscus and has missed the last two games
• God Bless

  

 Hartstock and Davies are a pretty potent frontcourt combo for the BYU Cougars. #34 Noah Hartsock is a 6`9“ 230 lb. senior year oversized true small-forward who leads BYU in scoring with 17.5 ppg (points per game) and is third with 5.4 rebound per contest. Noah is shooting the eyes outta the ball at a second best 58.3% from the floor and a team leading 82.5% from the line. In fact Noah is making some bona fide Most Improved post-season Big West award winning noise as he has increased his scoring tally by 203% from last season. That may not be making anyone forget Jimmy Fredette and his distal “pistol” Pete D.N.A. one-man show. Nevertheless, that is a helluva an improvement when take in  year-to-year cumulative terms. Noah is also number-one in blocks (1.6) and has terrific hands at the 3-spot for BYU. One #0, Brandon Davies is a 6`9“ 235 lb. third-year homegrown (Provo, UT) power-forward-center combo who is second in scoring (14.1 ppg) and leads the Cougars on the glass with 8.1 rebounds. Thus giving BYU something of a all-Big West all-star duo upfront and making for a formidable frontcourt match-up for VT. Davies also leads BYU in FTA’s (113) and shots a reasonable 72% from the charity stripe despite limited range on his J (jumper). Davies chips in with 1.2 blocks per game and is a defensive rebounding machine in and around the basket. Mr. Brandon Davies is also one other thing, and no matter where you come out on this topic; you gotta admit that at the end of the day -when it would have been easier to lie like a rug- he was an honest guy. As he had the gall to admit to having “sexual relations” with his girlfriend in premarital terms which technically speaking is a honor code violation on the Brigham Young campus and which subsequently lead to his dismissal from the BYU hoops team last spring. He was given a second-chance and reinstated this previous August.

Nate Austin is the only other true frontcourt player in the Cougars rotation 6-7 man playing rotation that features a whole buncha Swings or ‘tweeners up and down the line-up. Nate is a 6`10“ 215 lb. 20-year old freshman year power-forward center who nets you 4 points and pulls down 4 boards while leading BYU at 60% from the floor off of Coach Dave Rose’s bench. Nate is a mission returnee who is prolly still shacking off some rust and in need of reps after 2 years away from a full-time basketball court. That said, the BYU powers that be are pretty tall on this kids prospects long-term, going so far as to label him as a “twin tower” in the process. Somewhere in between a Forward and a Guard is 6`6“ 210 lb. junior season Swing Brock Zylstra. Versatility is the name of Brock’s game has he can score a bit (9 ppg), rebound a bit (4.3 boards), pass a bit (2.2) assists and is adaptable enough to cover three full opposing positions on defense.

BYU Backcourt:

• Association pros=none
• Hurts=zero

  

#10 Matt Carlino is a 6`2“ 175 lb. V.H.T. (very highly touted) chip U.C.L.A transfer who just became eligible after the sitting out the fall-semester. Matt has had some concussion problems in the past although he was a big-time point-guard recruit outta the much fabled Indiana high school basketball system who clearly emulates John Stockon’s play in terms of style of play -with his head always up, and his eyes always down-court-and in his personal appearance alike. Matt is already third in scoring (12.6 ppg), first in assists (4.5), burns the floor for 3.3 rebounds and is BYU’s best perimeter shooter at 43% from downtown and a second-best 78% from the FT-Line. Yah; I’d say this kid has a little “pasty-gangster” (N.B.A. nickname of John Stockton) in him; although he has cooled off of late as he is only shooting 14% in his last two games.

The other real guard on this Cougar hoops team is Craig Cusick. Craig is a 6`2“ 185 lb. back-up point-guard who can shoot from range at 45% in his own right from beyond the arc and is a quality floor-general who does nothing to hurt you off the Cougar bench while chipping in with 3 points and a couple of rebounds and assists alike. Swinging in between the 2-spot and the 3-spot would be Charles Abouo. Chuck is a 6`5“ 215 lb. senior who has paid his dues and is the best man-to-man lockdown defender on the Cougars roster. Go ahead and expect to see Chuck draw some minutes vs. E.Green and maybe even Hud’ if Hud’ gets rolling. Chuck gets you a nifty 11.5 points and 6.6 rebounds on 39% from the outside. Not bad offensive work from your best defender if you can get it. Occasionally (or as foul-trouble dictates) you will see spot appearance from Anson Winder. Anson is a 6`3“ 195 pounder of a true point-guard who is experiencing something of a playing time crunch what with two other true-point-guards out in front of him in only his t-freshmen year. Anson gets you 4 points and a rebound or assist or two despite only shooting 37% from the floor thus far this campaign.

Keys to VicTory:

1. Fatigue, as in creating some for a talented yet somewhat thin BYU 6-7 man playing rotation after a long 1,999.39 mile road-trip to the New River Valley
2. This means pressing BYU
3. This means going deeper into the Hokie bench for some fresh(er) legs
4. This means trying to create some foul-trouble by taking the ball hard to the rack and thereby attempting to disrupt the well-oiled 6-7 man BYU playing rotation itself

Conclusion(s), illation, OPT digits:
Despite my confessed lack of familiarity with BYU hoops, or even much less West Coast Conference basketball itself on the balance, I feel firm in telling you that right now BYU looks like a tough out, or a near thing, take thy pick. These Cougars are a solid, well-coached basketball team that will not be beating themselves. You must take the game to BYU and take care of your own business vs. the second best offensive attack that we will play all year. This just also happens to be the third best rebounding team when it comes to board-work and the fourth best defense we will face during the 2010-2011 regular season campaign. See what I mean? No matter how you slice it, it would be borderline dishonest to tab VT as the rightful favorite in this one, not even at home.

BYU is no less than good, with a fair to middling shot at being very good, and an outside chance at ending up being great. All they really lack is a signature win which is something that they could take care of this Saturday at home vs. 20^th ranked Saint Mary’s.

Likewise be fully awares that BYU also lacks a signature L. Getting beat by Loyola Marymount did not help, though getting beat by three teams ranked 7^th, 11^th and 20^th respectively is no raw-deal either. No shame in that folks. At least not for a hoops troop with a very efficacious backcourt and, just enough frontcourt punch despite the aforementioned attrition, with rock-solid coaching and no less than 10 different guys who all shoot between 22% and 45% as their semi deep 8-10 man playing rotation goes.

Like I said, even though I’m not sure if this is a great Cougars basketball team, I am sure this is no less than a good BYU basketball club and that tells me that this one is gonna require a very good Hokie showing in order to secure the O&M win in defense of our Cassell on Wednesday night.

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Took a little while though I finally found some pegs upon which to hang my OPT hat. First up, this is a out-of-synch 5pm tip-off for BYU in Central-Mountain-West-Coast-Conference Greenwich-7 terms. That suggests the prospect of a slow or somewhat jeg-lagged start for the Cougars to me. Or at least it did until I learnt that they got into Blacksburg yesterday morning at should at least have some feel for all things O&M by now. BYU is also a conspicuous member of the last-4 left-out list by ESPN.com as a proverbial NC2A bubble team goes. That “popping” sound that you could audibly be hearing at ~9 o’clock could be BYU’s post-season hopes going bust, or should I type burst. The Cougars just attempted a season high 38 FTA’s vs. Pepperdine last Saturday night and are +1 on VT right now in terms of days of rest and or prep coming into this one thanks to VT’s most recent Sunday night start (@ uva). That said these Cougars have been a bit unseasonably frosty from range of late only netting 11.1% of their 3-point attempts in the last 10 days. So you can see why getting into Blacksburg VA a day early is no bad thing from a predatorily Cougar point-of-view.

This all conspires to tell me that this one is gonna have some oddball ebbs and flows or unusual out-of-conference twists and turns with each squad taking turns jockeying for the lead in a semi-fast paced basketball contest that should be fairly entertaining to watch. Nevertheless, BYU is out-shooting VT by 11% from the floor, and out-rebounding VT by a stunning +15 in rebounding margin over the past 5 games taken head-to-head. That’s a few extra makes and more than a few extra attempts that that should be just enough to secure a Cougar victory in what appears to be a relatively near thing overall.

Virginia Tech=68, BYU=75

“LETS GO!”

“HOKIES!”

bourbonstreet**