Men's Basketball Blog

Cougars at ESA

Dec 03, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 10:52 pm | Permalink

With Saturday’s 79-65 win over Oregon, the Cougars are now 7-2 at EnergySolutions Arena in regular season games. BYU went 3-2 in what was then the Delta Center in the WAC Tournament in 1993 and 1994.

The first game (2003) was perhaps the most memorable as the Cougars defeated an Oklahoma State team that advanced to the 2004 NCAA Final Four. Rafael Araujo had a dominant performance as he posted a monster double-double with 32 points and 17 rebounds.

Last season Jimmer Fredette gave Cougar fans a performance to remember, scoring 33 points in an 87-65 win over Arizona, one of his many 30-point games on his way to leading the nation in scoring and capturing national player of the year honors.

Noah Hartsock added a memorable performance to BYU’s history at EnergySolutions Arena. Against Oregon, the senior forward from Bartlesville, Okla., scored a career-best 23 points to go with 12 rebounds, two assists and four blocks.

Year	Opponent	Score	Result
2003	Oklahoma State	76-71	W
2004	Washington State	46-49	L
2005	Lamar	97-74	W
2007	Michigan State	61-68	L
2008	Utah State	68-63	W
2009	San Francisco	69-43	W
2010	Hawaii	78-57	W
2010	Arizona	87-65	W
2011	Oregon	79-65	W

BYU vs. Northern Arizona on KSL

Nov 30, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 2:23 pm | Updated: December 3, 2011 11:17 pm | Permalink

Use the links below to listen to Greg Wrubell and Brian Santiago call the Northern Arizona game on KSL.

Pregame Show

Anson Winder interview begins at 1:50
Dave Rose interview begins at 35:00

Nate Austin interview begins at 16:50
Brandon Davies postgame comments begin at 50:11
Brock Zylstra postgame comments begin at 53:55
Dave Rose interview begins at 32:20

I'll Have One of Everything

Nov 30, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 1:49 pm | Updated: November 30, 2011 1:51 pm | Permalink

A year after graduating the greatest guard tandem in BYU history, the contributions post players Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock cannot be understated so far this season. Hartsock leads the Cougars in scoring (16.8 per game), blocks (2.0) and minutes (32.3), is second in rebounding (5.7), third in steals (1.0) and fourth in assists (2.0). Davies is third in scoring (12.0), rebounding (5.5) and assists (2.7) and second in blocks (1.0) and steals (1.2).

In fact, Davies and Hartsock are both averaging at least 1.0 in every major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals), something that has been done over a full season only twice in BYU history — both times by Russell Larson. In 1993-94, Larson’s junior season, he averaged 19.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals. As a senior, Larson averaged 17.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals.

With 25-plus games remaining this season, it’s impossible to predict if their averages will hold up. But if they do, they’ll join pretty elite company next to Larson.

*It's only fair to note that blocks, steals and assists were not tracked when Cougar greats such as Kresimir Cosic, Mel Hutchins, Dick Nemelka, John Fairchild and others played. They very well could have been included with Larson but we'll never know.

BYU vs. Wisconsin and Opportunities

Nov 26, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 2:55 pm | Permalink

First off, for those hoping to watch the game (BYU vs. Wisconsin) tonight, it is on the Big Ten Network. If you're trying to find the Big Ten Network, use its ChannelFinder or visit http://btn.com/about/btn-channelfinder/

You can also listen to Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant call the action on KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM or on KSL.com. For a list of all the options to follow the game, visit the GameDay page. Tipoff is at 7 pm CST.

While it's early in the 2011-12 college basketball season, the early part of BYU's season has been defined by the word opportunity. Coming off a 2010-11 season in which the Cougars set numerous program records, advanced to the Sweet 16 and saw an all-time great lead the nation in scoring and be named National Player of the Year (I'm talking about Jimmer Fredette in case you were wondering), there were a lot of questions among fans and the media about this team.

Who would pick up the scoring slack? Who would run the point? Where would the leadership come from? Several Cougars have taken advantage of the opportunity of increased playing time and leadership roles and have begun to answer some of those questions.

Noah Hartsock has taken the opportunity to prove that he can be a consistent scorer as he's scored in double figures every game, hit shots inside, midrange and from deep, and leads the team at 16.6 points per game. Charles Abouo is proving that he can fill the role of an all-around player, averaging 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting a blistering 68.8 percent from three. Brandon Davies has taken the opportunity to prove he can be an even bigger lowpost threat than last season (12.6 points per game) while also being a facilitator (3.0 assist per game).

Maybe more than anyone else, Anson Winder has taken advantage of an opportunity given him by the coaching staff and flourished. After not playing at Utah State, and playing only two minutes against BYU-Hawaii, Dave Rose inserted the redshirt freshman at point guard against Longwood and Prairie View A&M and he proceeded to score 19 points and dish out nine assists in 46 minutes. He got his first start vs. Nevada at the Chicago Invitational and played 38 minutes, scored nine points and totaled four boards, four assists and four steals. Aside from the stats, Anson created numerous transition opportunities, broke the Nevada press and defended well against the Wolfpack guards.

Tonight will be another opportunity for the Cougars as they take on preseason All-America point guard Jordan Taylor and No. 11 Wisconsin in the Chicago Invitational Challenge Championship game at 7 p.m. CST at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The game will be a great opportunity for BYU to play against one of the best teams and players in the country and for several players to further emerge in the new roles they've been given and claimed in this young season.

BYU vs. Wisconsin on KSL

Nov 26, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 12:00 am | Updated: November 30, 2011 2:05 pm | Permalink

Use the links below to listen to Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant call the Wisconsin game on KSL.

Pregame Show

Terry Nashif interview begins at 1:48
Dave Rose interview begins at 32:20

Damarcus Harrison interview begins at 20:46
Dave Rose interview begins at 30:47

BYU vs. Nevada on KSL

Nov 25, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 9:48 am | Updated: December 1, 2011 2:26 pm | Permalink

Use the links below to listen to Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant call the Nevada game on KSL.

Pregame Show

Tim LaComb interview begins at 1:36
Dave Rose interview begins at 36:00

Charles Abouo interview begins at 22:30
Noah Hartsock postgame comments begin at 36:48
Anson Winder postgame comments begin at 59:00
Dave Rose interview begins at 42:38

BYU vs. Prairie View A&M on KSL

Nov 22, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 11:49 pm | Updated: November 23, 2011 11:52 pm | Permalink

Use the links below to listen to Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant call the Prairie View A&M game on KSL.

Pregame Show

Nate Austin interview begins at 2:20
Dave Rose interview begins at 35:40

Stephen Rogers interview begins at 20:31
Dave Rose interview begins at 32:55

BYU vs. Longwood on KSL

Nov 18, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 11:32 pm | Updated: November 23, 2011 11:50 pm | Permalink

Use the links below to listen to Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant call the Longwood game on KSL.

Pregame Show

Mark Pope interview begins at 1:33
Dave Rose interview begins at 35:15

Charles Abouo interview begins at 22:22
Dave Rose interview begins at 36:52

New Features on the Site

Nov 17, 2011 - Posted by Kyle Chilton at 2:13 pm | Updated: November 17, 2011 2:17 pm | Permalink

Since the launch of the new BYUcougars.com during the summer, the site has been updated and new features have been added and there is more to come. Here is a list of a few updates, related specifically to men's basketball:

In the News Presented by the Daily Herald: This section is available for all sports and it provides links to local and national stories about BYU athletics. The men's basketball list is very comprehensive and will be throughout the season.
Player statistics: The player bio pages now have a tab called 'Athlete Stats' that provides detailed career and game-by-game stats for every player on the men's basketball team. Check out Brandon Davies' page as an example.
Schedules: The schedules for the current seasons include more info that before, including links to every way to follow the game, including TV, radio, live audio, live video and live stats. For men's basketball, every schedule back to 1902-03 is on the site. If you click on the current schedule, there is a drop down menu at the top that will give you access to every season in BYU men's basketball history.
GameDay pages: The GameDay pages give you everything you need to know about the game. You can get directions to the venue, check the weather, find out how to follow the game, check out links for each team and read stories related to the game. Get to the GameDay pages by clicking on the opponent names on the schedules.
Season Statistics: Season stats have been added for every season back to 1990-91 and more will be added soon. If you want to know who led the team in scoring in 1993-94, now you can find out. It was KSL stats man Russell Larson by the way, at 19.9 per game.
Archives: Under MBKB on the menu for the men's basketball page, you'll find 'Archives' as an option. This breaks the links down by season and gives you access to the rosters, stats and schedules for each year back to 1999-2000 (more will be added). For current seasons you can also find season previews and reviews. You'll also see who coached each year and what the team's record was that season.
Records: Records have always been on the site but now they include much more. Now you can find Yearly Leaders, Individual Records (career, season and single game), 1,000 Point Scorers, Team Records (season and single game) and Marriott Center Records.
All-Time Honors: Another section that's been there but is now more updated and includes more of the history.

We hope you've been enjoying BYUcougars.com and know there are more additions coming to men's basketball and other areas of the site. We'd also like to hear from you. Let me know if you have any ideas for the site by emailing me at kyle_chilton@byu.edu.