Cougars look to finish strong as they enter final homestand of season


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BYU looks to finish strong as it enters its final homestand of the season

With the home stretch of the season nearing, the BYU men’s basketball team looks to stabilize and finish strong in a week that has featured big news for both the players and coaches. Just five games remain for BYU, and it enters into its final homestand of the season this weekend.

The big news this week were announcements made Monday, and again Tuesday in a press conference held at the Marriott Center. On Monday, BYU announced that Dave Rose had received a five-year contract extension, keeping him with the team through the 2019-2020 season.

Tuesday afternoon, the school announced renovations that will be made to the Marriott Center, as well as a practice facility that will be built just east of the Marriott Center. Rose talked in his weekly radio show about the impact the practice facility will have on the team.

“Basically now both programs (men’s and women’s basketball) can practice at the same time … the entire year, no matter what’s going on in the Marriott Center, we’ll have a place for our guys,” Rose said. “This will be great for us.”

Rose also discussed the impact that the renovations on the Marriott Center will make. The renovations include new video boards, as well as the completion of the lower-bowl seating area.

“Those who have enjoyed the north side … (the blue seats) they are going to be able to go all the way around the lower bowl,” Rose said. “When the lower bowl is full, it feels really good … it’s an unbelievable arena … unbelievable energy. I think … our season ticket sales will be really good.”

This season, the Cougars have faced a lot of adversity, but Rose is happy with the way they have responded. On Feb. 5, the Cougars fell to Pepperdine after building a 16-point lead but rebounded Saturday, Feb. 5, with an 87-68 win over Loyola Marymount.

“The way we played on Saturday, and responded to a tough situation Thursday … it gave the guys energy,” Rose said. “You’ve got three home games left in the year … hopefully that’ll give them a boost of energy.”

A player who has made a consistent impact on the team this year is senior Skyler Halford, who was the player guest on the show Tuesday night. Halford scored 18 points in the win over Loyola Marymount and averaged 12 points a game over his last seven games.

“Skyler’s real strength is the energy he brings,” Rose said. “He’s a really talented player … he has a hip issue that he’s dealing with, but you would never know it by the way that he plays, so hard with so much energy … it’s contagious with all our guys.”

Halford talked about his mentality regarding 3-pointers and how he has felt with his shot this season. In conference play, Halford is shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 26-of-52 shots taken.

“I feel confident, and that’s what I’m trying to maintain individually … and when I get an open look, try to knock it down,” Halford said. “That’s what the coaches have preached to us: When you get an open shot, knock it down. Step up, be confident and hit it.”

The Cougars enter their final homestand Thursday night against Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. MST. In their last meeting, Saint Mary’s got the 82-77 win thanks in part to its senior center Brad Waldow, who scored 24 points and had 14 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.

Saint Mary’s is second in the conference behind Gonzaga with an 18-5 record, including 10-2 in WCC play. Rose talked about how he views Saint Mary’s, as well as what BYU has to do to come away with a win in the rematch.

“The real issue is Waldow. … You kind of pick your poison. If you take everything away from him, he’s got four other seniors around him and two guys that come off the bench that are really skilled,” Rose said. “They are good at getting whatever they want on every possession.

“The key is to be better than they are. If we can handle Waldow in the post, and rebound the basketball, it can be a really good game.”

Following the game Thursday, the Cougars will host Pacific Saturday night at 7 p.m. BYU was able to win in their last matchup 93-80, a game in which Kyle Collinsworth recorded one of his five triple doubles this season.

“I’ve really simplified this with our guys … obviously we need more points, but we need more rebounds,” Rose said. “When we outrebound teams, we win games, and so that is the every-possession push and every-possession fight that we need to have to make that a real priority for us.”

Both games can be heard on KSL Newsradio.

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Jaren Wood

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