BYU now 4th place in WCC

[hawkwing]

After a hard fought loss without 2 starters, and losing Mr Triple-Double for most if a half with foul problems the Cougars are now firmly in control of 4th place in the WCC.

The cougars desparately need to win out in WCC play (excluding Gonzaga) to get back up into the top 2 for a better seed in the WCC tourney.

[mendyman]

This game had that feeling where things would get really ugly really fast but BYU kept fighting and had a chance. I surprised it stayed that close getting 2pts/2boards from our bigs

[Mars]

Feels like we've officially dropped down into NIT territory.

[KYCoug]

SM pretty much put on a clinic on how to beat a 4 guard team. We kept it close but too little too late. NIT here we come!

[byucougar1]

Not so fast on the assessment. Winder did not play in that game, and the team missed his 15 points and tough D/rebounding. When Austin returns, there will be an additional 8-9 boards/game. Add to the fact that Kyle was plagued by foul trouble and his ability to distribute the ball and you have a great recipe for a loss. Better to evaluate this team when at full strength than throw in the towel. Being able to have 2 post players on the floor at once will help with the rebounding and take some of the burden off of KC. Look for improved play with their return to the lineup.

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[BroncoBot]

losses are adding up. unfortunately, the only time we are able to assess this team at full strength will be in the NIT. definitely a down year for bball at byu. surprised that byu hasn't been able to contend in the wcc as I still think that the mwc is overall a stronger conference year to year and byu nearly always was at the top of the conference standings.

[nuk13]

[quote="byucougar1"]Not so fast on the assessment. Winder did not play in that game, and the team missed his 15 points and tough D/rebounding. When Austin returns, there will be an additional 8-9 boards/game. Add to the fact that Kyle was plagued by foul trouble and his ability to distribute the ball and you have a great recipe for a loss. Better to evaluate this team when at full strength than throw in the towel. Being able to have 2 post players on the floor at once will help with the rebounding and take some of the burden off of KC. Look for improved play with their return to the lineup.

I agree. Obviously the losses hurt but there are still a lot of games to play and, as you point out, Austin and Winder make a big difference. The last half of the season will depend a lot on their return and how well they play and work back into the team.

[scott715]

I'm not conceding NIT yet. We should get several wins in a row now assuming we get Winder back.

[Sammich]

I'm not totally sure that the MWC was a stronger conference for in-conference games. Of course the MWC regularly had teams ranked higher and had more respect, but that doesn't matter if in the actual games the teams are tough to beat. Even the bottom teams in the WCC come to compete; I'm not sure if BYU has had more than one blowout win since joining the conference. I think this is the reason why I don't like being in the WCC that much---they're a good conference but we don't get much credit for beating them and we are really punished for losing to them. BYU could have a year like this in the MWC and still have a good chance at the NCAA tournament.

The opposing fans are always offended when BYU complains about being in the WCC because they think they deserve more credit for how tough they are. They definitely do deserve more credit, but the fact that they don't get it is the problem.

[Brayden Green]

Well, we are a blown out Collinsworth knee away from being dead last in the WCC, so I am pretty happy at being 4th at this point. Kyle is the only consistently good thing about BYU basketball right now. Hopefully Rose and the boys can get it together and develop everyone not named Haws or Collinsworth into an auto-bid run. Because, realistically, we are already on the bubble, outside looking in. One more loss, even to Zaga or SMU will lock that squarely into place. And a loss to anyone else is a dead lock to not getting in.