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PROVO — Make no mistake, the BYU men’s basketball team is faced with perhaps its toughest challenge of the year when it travels to No. 19 Saint Mary’s for a Thursday night tipoff at 9 p.m. MST on ESPNU.
The Gaels (12-1, 2-0 West Coast Conference) have been ranked since the preseason for the first time in school history, and a BYU win would represent a crucial resume-builder if the Cougars can pull one out at McKeon Pavilion.
It won’t be easy. Fortunately for the Cougars (11-4, 2-0 WCC), they have experience winning in Moraga — including the last time center Eric Mika traveled to Moraga, when BYU rallied for a 60-57 win behind Tyler Haws’ 18 points and 14 from Kyle Collinsworth in Mika’s pre-mission freshman season.
“I remember winning; that was fun,” said Mika, who is averaging 20.2 points and 8.9 rebounds in 2016-17. “I remember I got a couple of fouls at the start, when (former SMC center Brad Waldow) was their center. He was a big dude, and tough to guard. But we stick it out, got down 14-15 and they can do that to you; they are so efficient, and they stick to what they do.”
Despite the strong team 16th-year head coach Randy Bennett has built at Saint Mary’s, BYU has won four of the past six games and leads the all-time series against the Gaels, 12-8.
Still, only four players on BYU’s current roster have played in McKeon Pavilion: posts Mika, Jamal Aytes and Corbin Kaufusi, and guard Nick Emery.
The Gaels are led by a trio of double-digit scorers in post Jock Landale (16.0 points per game), Emmett Naar (14.0 ppg) and Joe Rahon (10.0 ppg), but have also gotten significant production off their bench.
“He’s a really good player, and he touches the ball on every possession,” Mika said of Landale. “Everything runs through him, even if a play is set up so that he doesn’t score.”
The Gaels’ bench runs deep, too. The Saint Mary’s reserves nearly outscored the starting five last week, led by freshman Tanner Krebs’ 12 points in a 72-60 win over San Diego.
“It’s the best team we’ve played,” BYU coach Dave Rose said. “It’s an experienced team, and there is a lot on the line in a league game and a nationally ranked team."
Of course, that youth and inexperience might be a benefit for the Cougars, especially for a group finding its stride from the outside. After struggling early from 3-point range, BYU shot 44.3 percent from deep in wins over Santa Clara and Loyola-Marymount last week with nine treys in each game.
“They are so young, and all this is new to them,” Rose said. “Sometimes when you get a more experienced group, you like that emotion and their ability to go on to the next task. They understand what is coming.
“Right now is a really interesting time with this group, because I don’t know if we know what we are walking into on Thursday.”
Like perennial league power Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s is a team that is tough to predict. That includes trying to explain to a team of newcomers how they play and what they do that is so effective, Emery said.
“Saint Mary’s runs very simple stuff, but they run it to perfection,” the former Lone Peak standout said. “I don’t know if these guys understand how well they run their stuff. Our scout team in practice has done a great job of running Saint Mary’s, but you can’t really explain it going in.
“It’s going to be a challenge, and we’re going to be ready for it.”
