WCC Power Rankings, February 24th
By Josh Horton
Feb 20, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars forward Eric Mika (00) grabs a rebound stares down a Gonzaga Bulldogs fan on the front row during the first half at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
1. BYU
Last week: 2 (Up 1 spot)
Record: 12-5 (20-10)
RPI: 36
KenPom: 46
Place in Conf. Standings: 2
This past week: W vs. Gonzaga 73-65, W vs. Portland 89-72
By Andrew Perkins
The Cougars built on last Saturday’s win at St. Mary’s with two more solid wins at home.
On Thursday, BYU knocked off Gonzaga for just the second time in seven in-conference tries. Coach Dave rose trotted out an interesting starting line-up, going with Anson Winder and Josh Sharp over Skyler Halford and Eric Mika. Both Halford and Mika had strung together a few rough outings as of late, and for Mika, the bench settled him down just fine. The freshman big man registered 13 points and 8 rebounds while avoiding early foul trouble and keeping the Zags off the glass. The surprise of the night was Anson Winder who had a game-high 17 points, which included 10 free throws on 10 attempts. While Gonzaga did a pretty good job bottling up the Haws/Carlino/Collinsworth trio, Winder attacked the basket and provided a much needed scoring boost. If somebody had told me that Haws and Collinsworth would combine for 20 points and Winder would be the leading scorer, I would have giggled. But the Cougars stepped up their perimeter defense and controlled the boards. A rotation change and a renewed commitment to defense really boosted BYU in this one. 73-65 Cougars.
Saturday was more of the same for BYU. Luke Worthington took over in the starting lineup for Sharp. Coach Rose admitted Worthington would have started against Gonzaga if it weren’t for a shoulder injury that had kept Luke out of practice early in the week. While the Cougars weren’t as ferocious on defense this game, they still put forth a solid effort that saw Portland shoot 39 percent from the floor. Bobby Sharp was able to do his Bobby Sharp thing a little bit, but not to the extent he did in the first meeting of the series. Most importantly, the Cougars kept Thomas Van Der Mars from tearing them apart as well. With Kevin Bailey and Alec Wintering out for the Pilots, BYU took advantage and rolled to an 89-72 win. Matt Carlino went bonkers from his comfy spot on the bench, hitting 8 of 13 from deep, thieving 4 steals, and recording his first dunk of the year. I didn’t even know the kid could dunk! When all was said and done, Carlino racked up a 30 spot. Not a bad day at the office. The second leading scorer? You guessed it. Tyler… Gotcha. It was Anson Winder. 19 points.
Multiple players stepped up this week for the Cougars. It should be interesting to see how they conclude the season at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against USD. The Toreros are flying high upon the wings of a 3-game winning streak, which includes a win over the Zags. Plus, BYU has had a considerably tough time winning on the road this season. Can Carlino and Winder keep up the scoring load if Haws can’t get it going? Will Mika take advantage of his bench role and continue to stay out of foul trouble? Can they keep defending the perimeter effectively? Questions certainly remain, but Cougar fans have got to be optimistic with what they’ve seen since the loss at Pacific.