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The BYU Cougars have done it again.
Trailing at the half for a fourth straight game, the Cougars won their third straight game, pulling away for a 78-68 win at Wyoming--only the Cowboys' second home loss of the season.
At this time of year, it's not how you win, just that you win. In the last two games, BYU has shot 37.5% (v. Utah) and 37.7% (at Wyoming), and won both games by double digits. While the shooting numbers were atypical for the second-best shooting team in the NCAA, BYU's defense has been tremendous. Utah shot under 30%, and the Cowboys finished under 40% from the field.
Tonight's game was only the fifth time all season BYU's been outshot in a game. It's the second time this season BYU has won while being outshot (last week's game at SDSU was the other).
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Jerry Palm's updated RPI shows BYU moving up to 18th (up from 22nd) with its win at Wyoming. Consider that BYU's highest-ever RPI to end a season was when it finished 20th in 2007. BYU is the only team in the current RPI top 20 not ranked in either the Coaches' or AP Top 25. With a win on Saturday, BYU should crack at least one of the polls on Monday.
Another RPI note: UNLV's win over Air Force has bumped the Runnin' Rebels back into Palm's RPI top 50, giving BYU two more top 50 losses, unfortunately. Interestingly, UNLV is 4-1 against RPI top 25 teams--only three teams nationally have more wins against RPI top 25 teams.
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BYU established a new MWC record by finishing 9-3 in away games this season. Four teams (including BYU last season) shared the previous record of eight overall road wins.
BYU is also the only MWC team to finish conference play with a winning road record (5-3). In the previous seven seasons, the MWC champions have finished with at least five road wins. If Utah and New Mexico win Saturday they will be the first MWC teams since 2001 to win or share a title without a winning conference road record.
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The Cougars can clinch their third straight conference championship with a home win over Air Force on Saturday. The last time BYU won three consecutive conference championships was when the Cougars won three straight Rocky Mountain Conference titles in 1932, 1933 and 1934.
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Dave Rose won his 50th MWC game tonight, versus only 13 losses (79.4%). He is now 95-32 overall (74.5%). Both marks are alltime MWC coaching records. Why shouldn't Rose receive Coach of the Year consideration? He lost three starters (including a player who would have been a senior this season) and returned only one senior starter. His team recovered from a 3-3 start in league play and now stands on the verge of an unprecedented MWC three-peat.
New Mexico's Steve Alford and Utah's Jim Boylen are better bets to win the award, in part because both teams finshed higher than expected--which is usually how this award is decided. But with Utah returning four seniors and the Lobos returning three seniors, both teams should have performed well. BYU plays only one senior, which not only bodes well for the Cougars' future, but is also further testament to Rose's coaching talents.
Oh, and by the way, here's Dave Rose's career record in February/March regular season MWC games:
31-4.
Have you let that sink in? I mean, really, really sink in? How ridiculous a number is that?
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The 6, 7, 8 and 9 seeds for next week's conference tournament have all been decided.
Wyoming (7-8) will the the 6 seed.
TCU (5-10) will be the 7 seed.
CSU (4-12) will be the 8 seed and play 9 seed Air Force (0-15) in the Wednesday play-in game.
The Falcons will be playing to avoid the MWC goose-egg when they face the Cougars on Saturday, a year after CSU went 0-16 in conference play. The Rams are in the play-in game for the third time in four seasons.
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In addition, it's a done deal that UNLV and SDSU will meet in the 4 v. 5 quarterfinal at the conference tournament--the only question is which uniforms the Aztecs and Rebels will wear in Vegas. If SDSU beats UNLV at home this Saturday, the Aztecs will be the 4 seed and wear white. A UNLV win will put the Rebels in their home unis. But the Rebels are playing at home regardless, so no matter what the outcome of their Saturday meeting, the Aztecs and Rebels could be set for a good ol' fashioned "home-and-home."
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BYU has matched last season's 29-game record of 23-6. Last year's BYU team got to 27-6 before losing its last two games to finish 27-8.
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Just saw the ESPN college hoops guys Jimmy Dykes and Steve Lavin ruling on the "in" or "out" NCAA Tournament status of BYU, SDSU and UNLV. Both guys have UNLV "in." Both guys have SDSU "out." Dykes has BYU "in," but Lavin says the Cougars are "out." Lavin says the Cougars' best wins have come in league. And that would be the 7th-rated RPI league that the Cougars are about to win, right? This after they showed highlights of UNLV sleepwalking to a 3-point win over Air Force (par for the course for a UNLV team that dozed in losses at TCU, CSU and Wyoming and only gets up for BYU). But yes, the Rebels are "in," by all means. Steve Lavin knows about the internet, right? It can be really helpful when trying to evaluate teams.
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Numbers of the night, relative to Saturday's BYU-Air Force regular season finale: AFA starters had 6 total points in the loss 46-43 loss at UNLV. BYU starters had 67 total points in the 78-68 win at Wyoming.
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