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PROVO — The stakes went up on the BYU men’s basketball team’s season this weekend.
But that’s nothing new for this time of year.
Whether it be crucial state tournament games in high school or conference championships, most basketball players are used to playing their best basketball by March.
The Cougars hope to be one of them.
“We’ve been doing this our whole lives, just at different levels,” said BYU forward Yoeli Childs, an all-West Coast Conference first-team honoree who won a Class 5A state title with Bingham in 2016. “We’ve played in high school state tournaments or AAU tournaments that have a lot on the line. We’ve all been in these situations before, and the experience in those situations will help us out.”
BYU opens the West Coast Conference Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Cougars (22-9) will face San Diego, a team it split in the regular season, at 2 p.m. MST.
The third-seeded Cougars finished behind two top-25 teams in Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference. But head coach Dave Rose still feels like his team is being undervalued after the regular season.
“I think people should be extremely proud of how they have responded in a tough situation,” Rose said. “When you take one of your best players off a team early in the year, and then you get three guys hurt and play nine games with eight scholarship players — there are a lot of things that we have not talked about that are real challenges for any Division I team. But this team has really responded to the situation.
“I get a little irritated at times when people don’t respect what these guys have done.”
The Cougars won at least 20 games for the 13th-straight season, which ties Rose for sixth all-time in NCAA history. After losing two of last year's top-three scorers in Eric Mika and Nick Emery, BYU finished in the same position in conference play as a year ago — ahead of anyone not named Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
How they got there, however, has been the source of angst among some corners of the fanbase. The Cougars went 11-7 in conference play, the most losses since joining the league in 2011-12 (the WCC has also added one member, Pacific, since BYU left the Mountain West).
“Regardless of record, this is a team that was picked to be third in this league by the people in the league who understand what is going on. They didn’t have any idea we’d be missing a couple of key players," BYU assistant head coach Tim LaComb said after the Cougars' loss to No. 6 Gonzaga in the regular-season finale. “But I thought our guys fought really hard. There are nights where you wish you could have back a shot here or a shot there, or just play better. But I will say that our team through ups, downs, and whatever stuck together. They held their heads high, and we’ve got really good kids."
The Toreros (18-12) are led by Utah transfer Isaiah Wright and recent-reserve Isaiah Pineiro, both of whom earned All-West Coast Conference honors Tuesday.
But USD will be without head coach Lamont Smith, who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of domestic violence after the Toreros’ win over San Francisco in the final game of the regular season.
Rose didn’t comment on Smith’s situation, saying it drew some similarities to when the Cougars played at Pepperdine the day after the university announced Marty Wilson will not return for the 2018-19 season.
But the BYU boss mentioned that by this time of year, teams are what they are — and wins and losses come down to who will play their best basketball.
“Every game is based on matchups, but when you get to this time of year, everyone is so familiar with what teams do then I would be surprised if San Diego did anything other than what they’ve done all season,” Rose said. “That’s what has made them a really good team, and it’s what made them win 18 games this season.”
BYU leads the all-time series against San Diego 13-5, but both teams are about as equally matched as can be in 2018. The Toreros took the latest meeting, a 75-62 win Feb. 17 in San Diego, after the Cougars rolled to victory in Provo.
“In a situation where both teams have won a game, you’ve got the attention of your players,” Rose said. “I think both teams know personnel very well, and it’s just a matter of figuring out what things to emphasize.”
BYU won’t be a surprise to the Toreros, either; much of the Cougars’ game plan all season has relied on Elijah Bryant, who averaged 17.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in a season where he only scored in single figures once during conference play — a remarkable level of consistency for the junior from Gwinnett, Georgia, coming off offseason knee surgery.
“This is how I play all the time,” Bryant said. “Last year, I was dealing with some injuries off the court, but now I’m back to feeling more like myself. That’s why I’m playing well with my team.”
WCC Women's Tournament
