GAME PREVIEW: BYU at Marquette

LOUISVILLE -- The BYU Cougars moved to 26-8 Tuesday with an improbable comeback against the Iona Gaels. The Cougars trailed by as much as 25 points in the first half and by 15 at halftime 55-40.

Iona was on fire in the first half shooting 58.5 percent from the field, including 50 percent (5-10) from beyond the three point arch. Things started to change in the second half when BYU stepped up the defense (switched to a zone) and the "Double H's" started to take over.

Noah Hartsock and Damarcus Harrison were instrumental in the comeback. Hartsock scored 16 of his game high 23 points in the second half. Harrison's energy off the bench sparked the Cougars as he finished with 12 points including, two huge three-pointers.

Brandon Davies, 18 points and 15 rebounds, kept BYU "close" or at least breathing with his first half scoring and Craig Cusick brought some much needed defense and calming influence to go with his eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and only one turnover in 26 minutes of play.

Now, it's on to Louisville and a date with the No. 3 seed, the Marquette Golden Eagles (25-7) out of the Big East. The Golden Eagles feature Big East player of the Year, 6- foot-6-inch, 235-pound Jae Crowder, who averages 17.6 ppg and 7.9 rpg.

Although the Golden Eagles are considered "undersized," don't let that fool you. This is a team that plays very hard and will at times pound the ball inside on BYU. One of Marquette's key reserves is Davante Gardner, 6'8", 290 lbs. That's not a misprint! Gardner averages 9.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

The Golden Eagles also rely heavily on the guard line. Darius Johnson Odom, Vander Blue and Junior Cadougan average more than 33 ppg between the three of them with Johnson-Odom scoring 18.5 ppg. Both Crowder and Johnson- Odom were All-Big East First Team selections.

You can hear the game on KSL Newsradio 1160 AM & 102.7 FM and the BYU Radio Sports Network. The pre-game starts at 12 noon followed by the tip-off at 12:45 pm on Thursday. The winner of this game will play the winner of No. 11 Colorado State and No. 6 Murray State on Saturday.

Breaking down the matchups:

Dead heat here with the statistical comparisons between the two teams, but keep in mind this is a Big East team and has played a tough conference schedule. The only common opponent is Wisconsin and the Golden Eagle beat the Badgers at Wisconsin 61-54, while BYU lost to the Badgers in Chicago (neutral site) 73-56.

The non-conference schedule is nothing to write home about, beating Washington, but losing to both a solid Vanderbilt team and not-so-solid LSU squad. This game is going to come down to what BYU has and how they feel after playing a game less than 48 hours after the Iona game.

If BYU is fresh and ready to go I think this will be a great match-up and BYU has a solid shot. If the Cougars are tired and not ready to go physically I think Marquette will win handily.

A Look at the stats of both teams:

Tip off is at 12:45 p.m. on CBS.

Related topics