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Just a few quick notes before BYU receives its March Madness marching orders...
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Being the #1 seed at the MWC Tournament isn't that big a deal. The #1 seed has a record of 15-8, with two tourney championships. The #2 seed is 19-5, with five championships (half of the ten titles awarded). The #2 seed has the best overall record of any seed in the MWC Tournament.
Utah's path to the tourney title was the softest for any #2 seed champion. The combined opponents' seed total of 17 (7 + 6 + 4) is the highest for any two-seeded champion in MWC Tournament history. The two times the #1 seed won the tourney title, the road was even smoother--the opponents' seed totals were 19 both times (2000 and 2006). In those years, the #1 seed was fortunate to face the #6 seed (2006) and the #7 seed (2006) for the title.
It's fair to say that the #1 seed having to face Air Force and SDSU was a tougher task than #2 seed drawing TCU and Wyoming. The way Utah played on Thursday night (with Nevill in foul trouble), I think any team in the league other than TCU might have won that game.
But, to the victor go the spoils, and the Utes did what was needed--which as it turned out wasn't a great deal more than was necessary, the way the Frogs, Pokes and 'Tecs shot the ball. Those three teams shot a combined 55/154 from the field (36%), and 9/41 from the arc (22%). Credit Utah's defense for contributing to those numbers, but anyone who watched the games knows the Utes caught three teams who would have had a tough time shooting without anyone guarding them.
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I wonder if the Cougars are flattered to have gotten the performance they did out of San Diego State on Friday night. Clearly, the Aztecs were not the same team on Saturday. Funny how the Cougars seem to bring the best out of certain teams (see UNLV).
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Those of us who thought Energy Solutions Arena was a viable option for future MWC tourneys can think again. While I was in Vegas, I was informed by someone knowledgeable that ESA is out the running as a tournament venue in 2011-2013. Evidently, an inability to secure the needed dates was an issue.
The current contract between the MWC and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors' Bureau/Thomas and Mack Center expires after the tourney in 2010. The five venues from the which the MWC Board of Directors will choose for the next three tournaments are:
Pepsi Center, Denver
E Center, West Valley City
Cox Arena, San Diego
The Pit, Albuquerque
Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas.
The decision is to be made in May or June, if I recall correctly.
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Okay, so you probably know that the last time BYU won an NCAA Tournament game was in 1993. But did you know that in every succeeding appearance, BYU has been either an 8 seed (1995, 2007, 2008) or a 12 seed (2001, 2003, 2004)?
The last time BYU was neither an 8 nor a 12 was in 1993, when the Cougars won a first-round game as a 7 seed (beating 10 seed SMU), before losing to the 2 seed (Kansas) in the second round.
In 16 seeded appearances since seeding began in 1979, BYU's average seed has been an 8.4 (high: 3, in 1980; low: 12, four times).
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BYU can be placed in only the West (Glendale) or East (Boston) regions, as their regional semifinals and finals are contested on the Thursday and Saturday of the second week. While the first- and second-round sites are not tied to particular regions (e.g., teams seeded in the South and West regions could be playing at the same first- and second-round sites), BYU cannot be seeded in the Midwest or South regions.
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In a two-point game (Friday's 64-62 loss to SDSU), so many little things can be identified as key factors in the setback. Certainly, BYU's failure to keep the Aztecs off the offensive glass, and shooting 65% from the stripe are two easily identified culprits.
I noted this: BYU took 17 free throws in the second half against SDSU. None were attempted by Lee Cummard. In the previous three games, he had made 31 of 33 free throws. Aside from his last-second lay-in, Cummard (87% ft on the season) took only two non-three pointers in the second half, and made zero trips to the stripe. In the meantime, Chris Miles (52% ft) took six second-half free throws, James Anderson (33% ft) took three, and Charles Abouo (64%) took two.
The fact BYU shot 65% from the stripe isn't all that surprising when you consider that in the second half, the "wrong guys" were the players shooting the bulk of the free throws, and the best free-throw shooter on the team didn't shoot a single one.
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