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PROVO — Alex Barcello has tried to keep a consistent schedule through the BYU basketball 2019-20 season after each game: celebrate a win — or console over a loss — for a night, and then move on to the next game.
Last Saturday’s win got a little extra room to celebrate — the Cougars’ 91-78 victory over then-No. 3 Gonzaga that propelled them to No. 17 in the latest Associated Press Top 25, and cap a six-game winning streak that likely secured an NCAA Tournament berth.
OK, AB; take the weekend.
“On Sunday, we were still all hyped about it — and a little Monday as well,” Barcello said after practice Thursday. “But we came back on Monday and we knew we had to flip the page to this upcoming game against Pepperdine. It’s going to be a battle at their place, and we’re going to have to come in ready to fight, just like we always do.”
What’s left? Clinch the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. BYU can do that with a win Saturday at Pepperdine (4 p.m. MT, CBS Sports).
BYU coach Mark Pope also celebrated a little extra after the win over Gonzaga. The first-year head coach met members of the Cougars’ student section at the nearby Cubby’s on Cougar Boulevard and bought burgers for them all — just over $1,800, he admitted.
Then he went home and re-watched the game, not sleeping until well past 3 a.m.
Well worth every penny — and minute — he said.
“That’s that weird shared experience here at BYU that’s so fantastic,” said Pope, who won his 100th career game Saturday. “But I watched the game that night, and thought we were amazing. Like, we might be the greatest team in the world.
“And then I watched the game again Sunday night and all I could think was that we are not anywhere close to where we need to be.”
Technically, BYU doesn’t have to beat Pepperdine to clinch the No. 2 seed; a loss by Saint Mary’s in one of its two final regular-season games Thursday against Santa Clara or Saturday against Gonzaga will do the same. But the Cougars and Waves will tip off Saturday with plenty on the line.
But the No. 2 seed, and with it a bye into the tournament semifinals Monday, March 9, feels vital. For a BYU squad that has struggled with injuries over the course of the year — most recently, the twisted ankle of senior forward Dalton Nixon — those extra days could be critical for the overall health of a program that is currently trending as an NCAA Tournament sleeper.
Nixon was at practice with the team Thursday, but wore a protective boot as he continues to rehab an ankle injury suffered in the Cougars’ road win over Loyola Marymount.
“He’s working hard, and doing everything he can,” Pope said of Nixon. “It’s just time; he has to get better. But he’s doing a little more every day, and taking all kinds of these reconstructive and replenishing shakes and pills. Don’t worry; all of them are legal.
“He’s doing everything he possibly can to get back.”
The Waves are led by junior point guard Colbey Ross, who is on pace to become Pepperdine’s all-time leader in assists — and possibly in scoring, if he keep up the pace as a senior. Ross averages 20.2 points and 7.2 assists per game and plays 37.4 minutes per night for the Waves (15-14, 8-7).
“He’s a three-level scorer, a guy who can penetrate the lane well and also shoot the ball,” Barcello said of Ross. “You just have to stay focused, stay locked in the whole game on him.
“It’s going to be a tough game, but we’re going to come like we always do.”
The players know it. The coaches know it. Even the facilities managers know it, after they were instructed to lower the curtains in BYU’s Marriott Center Annex practice facility Thursday, to better simulate the flat-walled background in Firestone Fieldhouse against a Pepperdine team that scored 80 points in the first matchup in Provo.
“They’re a really explosive, offensive team, and have one of the most difficult point guards to guard,” Pope said of the Waves. “They can really shoot it, and they can keep the floor incredibly spaced.”
How to watch, stream, listen
No. 17 BYU (23-7, 12-3 WCC) at Pepperdine (15-14, 8-7 WCC)
When: Saturday, Feb. 29 at 4 p.m. MT
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Walz, Dan Dickau)
Streaming: CBSSports.com
Radio: BYU Radio 89.1 FM, KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM (Greg Wrubell, Mark Durrant)
