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PROVO -- The No. 3 BYU Cougars (27-2, 13-1 MWC) have had plenty of trouble with the New Mexico Lobos (18-11, 6-8) for the past two seasons.
"They've beat us the last three times, and we realize that," senior guard Jimmer Fredette said. "So its time to focus."
The Challenge to focus just got harder now that starting forward Brandon Davies has been dismissed from the team for an honor code violation. The Davies-less Cougars will need someone to step up big time if they hope to beat the Lobos.
Last time the Cougars lost was in New Mexico. They looked like they had the game in the bag for about 30 minutes, then the Lobos caught on fire.
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The ninth of Jimmer Fredette's season-high nine assists at San Diego State ended up being the last pass he will ever throw to Brandon Davies."They're a tough team in their place, and they wanted to beat us more than we wanted to win." Fredette said. "We have to be careful of that because last time we had a big win against San Diego State too, then we went there and lost. We have to try to not let that happen again."
Now that Davies is gone, junior forwards Noah Hartsock and James Anderson will most likely pick up the slack in the center position. On Monday, head coach Dave Rose said that both forwards were still suffering from lingering injuries from the game on Saturday.
"Noah's foot is really sore from playing the other day, James had his eyes checked and he is better," Rose said. "Rob (The BYU trainer) is optimistic that we can get them back and get them ready to go, but its just kind of a day-to-day thing."
If there was ever a need for a leader such as Fredette, now is that time for the BYU Cougars. With an extremely thin front court plagued with injuries and a dismissal, the national favorite for player of the year will have the chance to prove his worth against the Lobos.
Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. inside the Marriott Center. You can listen to the game on ksl.com and KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM
CLICK in the video box above to watch a pregame report from the Voice of the Cougars, Greg Wrubell.
