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PROVO — With limited opportunities to make a statement prior to entering the Best College Basketball Conference in America BYU mens' basketball had a key one Friday night in the second game of the 2023-24 season.
Plenty of caveats will be tossed about regarding BYU's 74-65 win over San Diego State, including the Aztecs' health status — at one point, just eight scholarship players were available, including two freshmen.
San Diego State (1-1) is hardly the team that advanced to the national championship game a year ago. But it still earned the No. 17 preseason ranking in the Associated Press Top 25, a No. 15 berth in the Coaches' Poll, and No. 24 mark in KenPom.
Not many people — Vegas aside, with its 2.5-point spread — gave the No. 33-rated team in KenPom — the one picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Big 12, that is — much chance. Not many outside the locker room, at least, point guard Dallin Hall said.
"A lot of people have been counting us out from the start of the year, and that's never fazed us," said Hall, who scored 16 of his team-high 18 points after halftime. "It's just what's in our locker room: what they believe in there is all that we care about. We believed at the start of this year that we could accomplish some really great things."
The Cougars (2-0) didn't just beat San Diego State by a fluke, with a last-second 3-pointer or a wild final play. BYU went toe-to-toe with a physical presence, a legion of rebounds — and did what a lot of Big 12 teams are going to do later this year.
The Cougars outrebounded the Aztecs, 42-32 including 12-7 on the offensive glass. They forced 13 turnovers, scoring 11 points; and finished 26 points in the paint through a post presence consisting primarily of Fousseyni Traore (12 points, eight rebounds, four assists).
BYU has valued its association with San Diego State for four-straight years, dating back to head coach Mark Pope's first season in Provo when he and Aztecs counterpart Brian Dutcher scheduled a home-and-home series when no one else would with the two mid-major programs.
It's been a good series for both teams, though Dutcher jokes he "should have his head examined" for going to a place where the Aztecs are 4-31 all-time. For Pope, the game also gives him a chance to measure his team against the physicality of the Big 12 — the Cougars' new conference where every team ranks in the top 75 in KenPom.
In the past, San Diego State was a physical presence on BYU's schedule. The difference now, Pope says, is the program has 18 more of these games once conference play tips off.
"We have to be able to win this way," Pope added. "If you had told me we would come out of here with a 42-32 rebounding edge, I would have taken that and run with it, no questions asked. This is elite level, physical, national championship-game rebounding team. My first year coaching here, we lost in overtime and we could not get a rebound; for our guys to come perform and act like they did on the glass was epically special.
"For us to be competitive, we're not going to beat a lot of guys one-on-one on the glass. But we can beat guys 5-on-4 or 5-on-3, and our guys' commitment to the glass on both sides of the ball was unbelievable tonight. It was actually really special."
The Cougars are 2-0, an unblemished mark that could go farther next Wednesday against Southeastern Louisiana and Saturday against Morgan State before facing another Power conference opponent in Arizona State in Las Vegas.
They'll celebrate Friday night's win, just like they will every win. It's what former NBA star and Utah Jazz minority owner Dwyane Wade told them to do when he visited the Cougars at practice before the start of the season, Hall said.
"We're gonna celebrate tonight as a team, but then we're going to come back tomorrow and we're going to lock in for the next game and treat them as an even greater opponent than San Diego State," he added. "This is just the beginning of what we want to do."
