BYU Faces Pepperdine in Battle for 3rd Place
By James Pigott
Jan 9, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars forward Nate Austin (33) is fouled by Pepperdine Waves forward David Jesperson (12) while shooting the ball during the second half at Marriott Center. Brigham Young Cougars won the game 84-72. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
BYU Cougars (17-7, 7-4) @ Pepperdine Waves (14-8, 7-4)
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2015
Location: Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, CA
Time: 8:00 PM PT
TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Steve Quis, Dan Dickau, Kelli Tennant)
Livestream: thew.tv
Live Stats: CBS Sports GameTracker
PROJECTED STARTERS
BYU
Kyle Collinsworth, 12.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 5.7 APG
Anson Winder, 14.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Tyler Haws, 22.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Chase Fischer, 13.7 PPG
Corbin Kaufusi, 3.0 PPG
Pepperdine (Based on previous game)
Amadi Udenyi, 5.8 PPG, 4.4 PPG
Shawn Olden, 9.7 PPG
A.J. Lapray, 2.4 PPG
Stacy Davis, 15.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG
Jett Raines, 11.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG
Keys for the Cougars at Pepperdine
BYU lost to Pepperdine last season, and two years ago they nearly lost at Firestone Fieldhouse as well is it were not for a clutch Matt Carlino three pointer. BYU’s primary goal will be to start quickly to keep the tightly packed Pepperdine crowd in their seats. Stacy Davis is a very strong player who can rebound well, and Kyle Collinsworth will likely be tasked with guarding him. The centers for BYU will need to use their height advantage over Jett Raines to make it difficult for him to get clean looks at the basket. In BYU’s home loss to Pepperdine last month, the Cougars shot just 6/26 from three point range, so they’ll need to clean that up if they want to outscore the Waves. If Tyler Haws can have a solid scoring game and BYU can keep the Waves big men in check, the Cougars should be able to keep holding on to their NCAA Tournament hopes by a thread.
How Can Pepperdine make it 2 in a row against BYU?
Davis and Raines have been pretty consistent offensively in their junior seasons, but the young guards have been a little more up and down, and as a result the guard rotation has shifted quite often this season. For example, Amadi Udenyi and Lamond Murray played well last game in their win vs. Saint Mary’s, but Jeremy Major, who has been the starting point guard for most of his two seasons in Malibu, wasn’t very effective off the bench. In my opinion, if Major, Udenyi, and freshman Shawn Olden can all play well, the Waves will have a nice mix or scoring and distributing in their offense. Defensively, they cannot forget about BYU’s shooters: Winder, Fischer, Halford, and Toolson. With so much defensive attention spent on Tyler Haws the Waves need to be wary of double teaming him and leaving a shooter wide open.
Keys for the Cougars at Pepperdine
BYU still has a chance at the NCAA Tournament if they beat every opponent not named Gonzaga on their schedule, while Pepperdine is likely headed to the CBI or the CIT due to their weak non-conference resume. Tyler Haws does not want to end his career in the NIT, let me tell you that, and the sense of urgency he plays with will set the example for his teammates to follow. BYU 71, Pepperdine 65.