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Running a bit late for the airport, but I wanted to drop in just a line or two after one of the most exciting games I've had the privilege of calling.
In 1999, BYU went on the road and trailed Hawaii by 15 points in the second half, then went on a 19-3 run to end the game and win 60-59--but BYU was a 12-16 team that season, and it was an early-season conference game in a season in which BYU finished 5th in the WAC.
In February of 2002, BYU rallied from down 21 to beat Utah at the Marriott Center, but considering that the BYU team of 2001-02 finished 18-12 overall and 7-7 in league (7-0 at home and 0-7 on the road), the 63-61 comeback win over Utah, while impressive, was not as meaningful as last night's effort at Cox Arena.
Last night's 69-59 BYU win in San Diego featured two potential NCAA Tournament teams playing for their conference championship hopes, and in BYU's case, the Cougars were playing for what could turn out be a key, tie-breaking season sweep of the Aztecs. SDSU came in on a 10-game home win streak and had beaten BYU five straight times in San Diego.
So after all of that, allow me to go on record as calling it the most impressive and significant comeback win I've ever called.
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My wife told me this morning that I didn't give Jackson Emery enough credit last night during our postgame coverage, and she's always right, so it bears noting again that Emery had a huge game. Of course he hit the banked-in three pointer that sealed the deal, but he had a wonderful all-around night: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and two steals, in 38 minutes of play.
After a bit of a mid-season rough patch (sometimes called the "missionary wall"), Jackson has found his second wind, and is playing tremendous basketball only months removed from his LDS mission. He is going to get so much better with an offseason of work behind him, and his future, like that of the Cougars, is very bright.
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By the way, listening to a rebroadcast of last night's game, I think I may have been a bit out of line to note and reiterate regarding Emery's missed second half lay-in that "you gotta make that play," or words to that effect (in reality, a foul could have been called, and the contact probably contributed to the miss). At the time of the miss, BYU would have narrowed the deficit to 7 points, and within a minute or so, the Aztecs led by 14. I remarked again that the Emery missed lay-in was possibly a "turning point," and I believe I was unfair to have done so.
As a broadcaster, it's important to remember and understand the pressure under which these players perform, and to overly criticize a player for a failure or miscue is rarely if ever excusable. As a non-athlete, I have to remember that what these guys are doing at that level of competition is consistently remarkable, and even when a play might appear "easy," it probably isn't.
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