The 5 games that prepped BYU for Big 12 opener
With a wildly successful nonconference schedule behind them, the No. 12 BYU Cougars’ journey into the land of giants officially begins Saturday with the Big 12 home opener against Cincinnati (8 p.m., ESPN2).
The 12-1 Cougars have had five key games to get them ready.
BYU 74, No. 17 San Diego State 65
The early season (Nov. 10) clash between former Mountain West and WAC rivals showed BYU it can stand toe-to-toe with a team famous for pushing people around. The undersized Cougars learned they had the physicality to hold their ground.
Not only did the Cougars outrebound San Diego State, 42-32, but they also grabbed a 51-50 lead with 8:07 to play and held onto it. Dallin Hall’s 16 second-half points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer, gave the Cougars a signature win that caught the attention of the national pollsters.
BYU 95, NC State 86
BYU lost star center Fousseyni Traore to an injury early in the first half against NC State in the Nov. 24 championship game of the Vegas Showdown at Mandalay Bay. To make things worse, the hot-shooting Wolfpack built a 14-point lead.
Instead of folding, BYU fired up. The Cougars scored 57 points after halftime, with Jaxson Robinson leading the way with a game-high 23. Even with Traore out, BYU outrebounded the Wolfpack, 39-30.
The Cougars left Las Vegas with the first-place trophy and an understanding that they could still win even while losing a star player.
Utah 73, BYU 69
Losing is no fun, especially against a rival like Utah, but BYU’s Dec. 9 experience at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City left a lasting impression — on themselves.
Despite shooting a season-low 23% from the 3-point line, 36% from the field and a dismal 55% from the free-throw line, and against a much taller team on their home floor, the Cougars still had the ball in their hands with a chance to win the game in the final seconds.
BYU chipped away at a 16-point deficit by playing tenacious defense. It even finished the game with a 42-41 rebounding edge. The four-point defeat was painful, but it showed the Cougars how to stay competitive on nights when their shots aren’t falling.
BYU 94, Wyoming 68
In BYU’s final tuneup before conference play, the Cougars routed Wyoming on Dec. 30 in the first meeting between the old rivals since 2011. Despite a pair of Cowboys who were 7-feet and 6-foot-10, BYU dominated the glass, 46-30.
Still playing without Traore, the Cougars pair of backup big men, Aly Khalifa and Atiki Ally Atiki, turned in their best performances. Khalifa dished out eight assists and Atiki scored a career-high 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Trevin Knell and Noah Waterman led the long-distance assault with 17 points each. BYU hit 14 3-pointers and led by as many as 31. More importantly, with the expected return of Traore, the Cougars enter Big 12 play with three capable big men.
In addition, BYU played in front of its first sellout crowd of the season. Saturday will be the second.
BYU 35, Cincinnati 27
There is a familiarity to Cincinnati and BYU’s Big 12 home openers. The Bearcats came to Provo on Sept. 29 to face Kalani Sitake’s squad, also in front of a sold-out venue.
The atmosphere at LaVell Edwards Stadium was both historic and electric, and the student section (the ROC) served as an obvious 12th man. BYU jumped ahead quickly on Jakob Robinson’s pick-six in the first quarter and went on to a 35-27 victory.
Mark Pope and his players were on the field during pregame warmups and soaked in the atmosphere — a precursor for what they will both see and feel again Saturday against the Bearcats in the Marriott Center.
Lessons learned
These five games revealed key components to prepare BYU for its Big 12 debut: San Diego State (toughness), NC State (determination), Utah (resilience), Wyoming (firepower) and Cincinnati (home field/court advantage).
The Cougars haven’t been perfect during their nonconference run, which matches the best start in program history in 36 years. But they have been good enough to rank among the nation’s elite in scoring, assisting, defending and rebounding — all qualities of a potential NCAA Tournament team.
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No doubt the Cougars’ biggest challenges await and it’s a big night for Cincinnati, too. Like BYU, the Bearcats have never played in a Big 12 basketball game either and they drew the short stick to open in Provo.
When asked if he thought his team was Big 12-ready, Pope said candidly, “I don’t know. We’ve never done it before, but I do like who we are.”
Showtime!
Prior to the announcement of BYU’s starting lineup at the Marriott Center, Pope appears in a prerecorded video with a message that touts the toughness of his home floor and then he commands the facility technicians to hit the lights.
The place will go dark as 60-foot sheets attached to the scoreboard fall to the floor to create a 360-degree movie screen of epic proportions. A flurry of super-sized highlights mixed with sound effects and a pounding beat fill the canvas and quicken the pace of each heartbeat in the arena.
A rousing dunk or two brings the show to an end. As the crowd roars with delight, the sheets flutter to the floor to reveal Cosmo dancing at center court. The public address announcer takes it from there and introduces BYU’s starting five.
It’s a wild ride that often leaves the opposing team wondering if they are at a basketball game or Universal Studios.
Saturday will be different. The presentation will look the same, but once the lights are turned back on, Pope will be standing in a place neither he nor any of his predecessors, including Dave Rose, Steve Cleveland, Roger Reid, Ladell Andersen, Frank Arnold and all the others, could have possibly imagined — BYU is hosting a basketball game as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
History is in the making and the Cougars have been prepared to make the most of it.
It’s showtime!
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
