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The BYU Cougars' recent injury woes have somewhat worsened, as team captain Brock Zylstra missed Thursday's practice with a sprained left ankle. Head coach Dave Rose called Zylstra "questionable" for Saturday's home game with Pepperdine, adding that Zylstra is also not expected to practice on Friday.
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Zylstra sprained the ankle on Jan. 27, then played 28 scoreless minutes in the home loss to St. Mary's the following day. Moving to the bench, Zylstra played 25 solid minutes in a Marriott Center win over Gonzaga, then re-injured the ankle early in last Saturday's game at Portland. He stayed in the game, however, played 28 minutes and scored 12 points, adding five rebounds. After the road win over the Pilots, Rose commended Zylstra, saying "what a tough guy...he's as good a competitor as we've ever had."
On Thursday, however, Zylstra was unable to take the floor, and Rose said afterward that "sometimes they (the medical/training staff) tell me it's day-to-day, but they don't think he'll practice tomorrow, so I guess that's why (he's) questionable."
Meantime, forward Stephen Rogers remains out as he continues to deal with residual issues after mid-December surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Rose says Rogers is on anti-inflammatory medication and having to heal a bruise revealed by a recent MRI. The coach says Rogers will need to rest the knee for two weeks "once it feels good, but it's still a little bit shaky," so "the earliest it will be would be two weeks." Rose added that "we're looking forward to starting (the two-week clock) on Monday, but we'll see. It'll be up to him and how it feels."
Forward Chris Collinsworth (knee) has been able to get on the floor and do some shooting in recent days, but while Rose says "he's making some improvement," it "remains to be seen" whether Collinsworth will return at any point this season.
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Saying that "this group has made some progress, especially in the past two weeks, and hopefully we can keep getting better," Rose said the mid-week bye allowed his guys to "get a lot of shots up...the guys have worked really hard; the last two days we've had good practices, it's been really competitive."
Pepperdine (hosting San Diego tonight) faces a BYU team mired in a six-game three-point shooting slump, during which time the Cougars have gone 17-for-101 from the arc--that's 16.8%, after shooting 40% through 20 games.
"I believe that any player who gets himself into a situation where they're not as efficient as they want to be...you spend more time," said Rose. "Repetition...you believe the next one is going in. What we really dwell on are the ones we've made. It's the way we play, and we'll make a lot more."
Against Pepperdine late last month in Malibu, BYU made two of 11 three-point field goal attempts, and made three fewer field goals than the Waves for the game, yet the Cougars rode a 21-point advantage from the free throw line to a 77-64 victory.
"They have really good, skilled post guys," said Rose of Pepperdine's Corbin Moore (14 pts v. BYU) and Taylor Darby (career-high 21 pts v. BYU), "and we'll have to kind of adjust our zone a little bit, be a little more active, but they passed the ball with confidence, especially in the interior of our defense."
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Saturday's game tips at 4:00pm, with pregame coverage on KSL Newsradio/BYU Radio starting at 3:00pm, following "Cougar Sports Saturday," which hits the air at noon on KSL.
There are four games in the West Coast Conference tonight, featuring the game of the year to this point in the conference campaign, with league leader St. Mary's (11-0 WCC) visiting Gonzaga (8-2). The Gaels have placed in jeopardy the Zags' streak of 11 consecutive regular season league titles--the longest active streak and second all-time to UCLA's record of 13 consecutive conference crowns in the 60s and 70s. While many college hoops fans will be tuned in to the nation's marquee matchup tonight, Rose may not be among them.
"I don't think I'll watch it tonight," said Rose, "but I'll be interested in what the score is."
A St. Mary's win would essentially lock up the conference crown for the Gaels and bump the Zags into a tie with BYU at 8-3 in league play, intensifying the battle between BYU, Gonzaga, and Loyola Marymount for the two seed at the conference tournament. LMU (also 8-3) plays tonight at Portland, and follows with two more consecutive road games at Gonzaga and St. Mary's. The Lions are 5-0 on the road in conference play, including a win at BYU.
"Whatever happens is your next challenge," said Rose, referring to the outcome of tonight's game in Spokane, "and either challenge will be a difficult one. There are good things about St. Mary's winning, and good things about Gonzaga winning, and I don't control any of it. But we'll start the control tomorrow, depending on what the result is tonight."
You can hear Rose's entire post-practice media session in "Cougar Cuts," above left.
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