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A trip to New Orleans and the Sweet 16 awaits the winner of tonight's BYU-Gonzaga game here in Denver.
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The NCAA Tournament Third Round meeting presents an unusual situation reflecting the current state of both teams: the 11th-seeded Bulldogs are favored to beat the third-seeded Cougars.
The Zags are big, deep and on a ten-game win streak. The Cougars lack inside size, rely on only six players most nights, and are shaky-shooting 4-2 since losing center Brandon Davies to suspension. Combine those factors, and you get a rare scenario in which the 11 seed beating the 3 seed would not necessarily be considered an upset.
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By the same token, the build-up could play in BYU's favor. Having their pride tweaked might be just what head coach Dave Rose and the Cougars need to summon the March magic that may be required to win tonight's game.
BYU occupied a similar role a week and a day ago in Las Vegas. The Cougars were facing a New Mexico team on a roll--a Lobos squad featuring size and depth that had won four in row against BYU. What we saw that night was a 52-point explosion from Jimmer Fredette and a team-wide effort that resulted in an 87-76 win.
While Fredette was the singular scoring star, two other Cougars got into double figures, their three frontline starters (Hartsock, Abouo and Collinsworth) combined for 22 rebounds, BYU committed only six turnovers, dominated in points off of turnovers (24-5) and on the fast break (14-3), stayed out of foul trouble and got UNM's big men (Gordon/Hardeman w/ four fouls apiece) in foul trouble.
The above formula will be what BYU attempts to replicate tonight at the Pepsi Center, but it starts with shooting. Against the Lobos, BYU shot 50% from the field. In the ensuing two games, the Cougars have shot 32.2% (loss to SDSU) and 39.3% (win over Wofford). BYU has excelled at winning some subpar shooting games and/or games in which BYU is out-shot, but beating Gonzaga while struggling to shoot would not appear to be in the cards.
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Fredette is carrying a heavy load since Brandon Davies' suspension, and he needs more help than he is getting. If that help comes tonight (and it is needed from Jackson Emery in particular), Fredette is a special enough player to put the Cougars on his back.
Gonzaga, meantime, may be that rare 11 seed smitten with overconfidence. The Zags easily dispatched the 6 seed St. John's the other night, and they may feel that the bracket has opened up for them, with BYU being just the kind of team they want to face.
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. The Zags are drawing a team that still has 31 wins on its resume, and Gonzaga did lose nine games this season for a reason, or reasons.
The Bulldogs may think they have a handle on tonight's game, but they've not played a player like Jimmer Fredette. And the Zags as much as anyone should know that in March, anything can happen.
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The BYU Football team completed its first week of Spring practice on Friday, and my former intern and current KSL Radio producer Jake Hatch was in attendance.
What follows is his summary from Friday, and you can click on the links in the "Cougar Cuts" box for post-practice interviews with head coach Bronco Mendenhall, RBs Bryan Kariya and Josh Quezada, WR Ross Apo and DB Mike Hague.
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BYU Football - Friday Practice Report
by Jake Hatch, KSL Radio Sports Producer
It was the first day in full pads, and Coach Mendenhall said he felt the team was energetic and ready to play, adding that execution was a bit sloppy but he expected that.
Overall, Mendenhall was satisfied by the first week of practices. All of the offensive players mentioned that they feel the offense is light years ahead of where they were at the same time last year even with a new offensive coordinator and scheme.
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Here's a recap of the "Team" period:
The first offensive play from scrimmage was a play action pass from Jake Heaps to Ross Apo, who got loose for a 59-yard reception. Apo thought he was all alone and probably would have scored had he run hard but he was caught from behind.
Heaps looked poised today running the offense and moving the ball before a Sorensen FG ended the first series and a fumble by Juice Quezada ended the second.
QB Riley Nelson went 2/2 on his only drive, looked a bit jumpy but did hit Dallin Cutler in stride for a 60 yard TD. James Lark didn't have a series to run the offense. Jason Munns had a shot with the 3rd team offense on the final series and hit Drew Phillips on a crossing route only to see Phillips get lit up by Jray Galea'i with a nice hit or Phillips may have gained a big chunk of yards.
Phillips looked unafraid to run between the tackles and was one step away it seemed all afternoon from breaking a big play.
Juice was the beneficiary of solid O-line blocking and had a good day both rushing and receiving the ball but did fumble once.
RBs JJ DiLuigi and Brian Kariya didn't see much action in the backfield running the ball but both caught passes out the backfield.
DL Garrett Eskelsen and LB Connell Hess both had whistle sacks on the second and third offensive series while LB Aveni Leung-Wai made a big hit to force Quezada's fumble.
CB Robbie Buckner made a nice break up on a ball for WR Rhen Brown while Kyle Van Noy made a nice break-up on a blitz on the final offensive series. Matt Putnam also had a tackle for loss in team stopping Phillips for a loss of a yard.
Overall the offense moved the ball well even if they didn't get it in the end zone and it seemed the defense was on their heels all afternoon. The offense almost broke multiple plays open but the defenders made the play to stop the big gains from happening. Overall the O-line was solid and looked strong all afternoon controlling the line of scrimmage. Justin Sorensen looks like he has his big leg back as his field goal broke through the trees and hit a parked car in the parking lot.
Apo looks sharp in individual drills and McKay Jacobson didn't do much in team but looked like he is on a mission in drills.
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Injury notes:
Cody Hoffman woke up with a sore ankle and the doctors put him in a boot as a precaution and they are going to check him out again this weekend. Didn't sound too serious. Otherwise it was an injury free day.
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Stats:
Passing
Heaps: 5/6 102 yards; sacked once for -6 yards
Nelson: 2/2 20 yards; sacked once for -7 yards
Munns: 1/4 1 yard
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Rushing
Joshua Quezada: 4 att/14yds 1 fumble
Drew Phillips: 5 att/9yds
Riley Nelson: 2 att/-4 yds; sacked once, scrambled for first down to extend series
Jake Heaps: 1 att/-6yds; sacked
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Recieving
Ross Apo: 1 rec, 59 yards
Brian Kariya: 1 rec, 5 yards
Matthew Edwards: 1 rec, 11 yards
Dallin Cutler: 1 rec, 9 yards
JJ DiLuigi: 2 rec, 24 yards
Drew Phillips: 1 rec, 1 yard
Spencer Ridley: 1 drop
Rhen Brown: 1 drop
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Kicking
Justin Sorensen: 1 fga/1 fgm, 22 yards
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Defense
Garrett Eskelsen: Sack, -7 yards
Connell Hess: Sack, -6 yards
Aveni Leung-Wai: Forced Fumble
Robbie Buckner: Pass break-up
Kyle Van Noy: Pass break-up
Matt Putnam: Tackle For Loss
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