Game Notes: BYU vs. Tennessee State
BYU men's basketball will host Tennessee State of the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2012-13 season opener for both teams on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. MST. The game is part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and will be televised live on BYUtv and BYUtvsports.com and broadcast live on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM and KSL.com.
BYU Cougars (0-0, 0-0 WCC)
- Head Coach: Dave Rose
- Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
- Career Record: 185-54 (8th)
- Record at BYU: Same
Tennessee State (0-0, 0-0 OVC)
- Head Coach: Travis Williams
- Alma Mater: Georgia State, 1995
- Career Record: 0-0 (1st)
- Record at Tennessee State: Same
Series Information
Friday's game will be the first meeting between BYU and Tennessee State
Game Information
- TV: BYUtv
- TV Talent: Dave McCann (play-by-play), Steve Cleveland (analyst), Robbie Bullough (sideline)
- Live Video: BYUtvsports.com
- Radio: KSL 102.7 FM / 1160 AM and BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143
- Radio Talent: Greg Wrubell (play-by-play), Mark Durrant (analyst)
- Live Audio: KSL.com
- Live Stats: BYUcougars.com
Projected starters
| Tennessee State Tigers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Ht. | Pos. | Ppg | Rpg |
| 2 | Patrick Miller | 6-1 | G | 10.8 | 3.6 |
| 45 | Jordan Cyphers | 6-4 | G | 8.0 | 1.7 |
| 4 | M.J. Rhett | 6-8 | F | 3.9 | 4.5 |
| 1 | Kellen Thornton | 6-8 | F | 9.1 | 4.5 |
| 33 | Robert Covington | 6-9 | F | 17.8 | 7.9 |
| BYU Cougars | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Ht. | Pos. | Ppg | Rpg |
| 10 | Matt Carlino | 6-2 | G | 12.2 | 3.0 |
| 13 | Brock Zylstra | 6-6 | G | 8.3 | 4.3 |
| 3 | Tyler Haws | 6-5 | G | 11.3 | 4.2 |
| 33 | Nate Austin | 6-11 | F | 4.1 | 3.8 |
| 0 | Brandon Davies | 6-9 | F | 15.2 | 7.7 |
2011-12 review
Last season BYU finished 26-9 overall and 12-4 in the WCC. The Cougars received an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament where BYU recorded the largest comeback in the tournament’s history by overcoming a 25-point deficit to defeat Iona 78-72 in the First Four. The Cougars were eliminated by Marquette in the second round. BYU has won a tournament game in three-straight season, a program record.
In regular season tournaments
With a second-place finish in the Chicago Invitational Challenge last season, Dave Rose has finished first in four regular season tournaments and second in two. Under Rose, BYU is 20-2 in regular season tournaments. This season BYU plays in the 2012 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The first two games against Tennessee State and Georgia State will be held at the Marriott Center on Nov. 9 and 13 with the next two being held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 16 and 17. BYU will face Florida State on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. and either Notre Dame or St. Joseph's on Nov. 17. Both games in Brooklyn will be televised on truTV.
Rose in season and home openers
Under Dave Rose, BYU basketball is 4-3 in season openers and 6-1 in home openers. After dropping his first two season openers in 2005 and 2006, Rose led BYU to four-straight season-opening wins before falling 69-62 at Utah State last season. Rose lost his first home opener (also the season opener in 2005) but has since won the last six home openers.
Return of Tyler Haws
The 2012-13 season marks the return of sophomore guard Tyler Haws, who spent the last two years serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. As a freshman in 2009-10 he averaged 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting .498 from the field, .368 from three and .917 from the free throw line. Haws earned third-team All-MWC honors on a BYU team that went 30-6 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He also owns a BYU-record streak of 48 free throw attempts without a miss that is still current.
Davies’ double-doubles
Brandon Davies posted nine double-doubles in 2011-12, the most by a BYU player since Rafael Araujo had 16 in 2003-04. He finished the season with consecutive double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament. The nine double-doubles also include BYU’s first 20-20 game since 1975 when he posted 21 points and 22 rebounds vs. San Diego.
I’ll have one of everything
In 2011-12, Brandon Davies became the second Cougar in history to average at least one of everything (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks). Davies averaged 15.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.5 steals. Russell Larson was the only other BYU player to produce a ‘one of everything’ season and did so twice, in 1993-94 and 1994-95 (blocks and steals were not tracked until the 1977-78 season).
BYU’s newcomers
This season’s roster includes four newcomers and two returning redshirt freshmen. The newcomers include Cooper Ainge (son of BYU legend Danny Ainge and brother of former Cougar point guard Austin Ainge), Agustin Ambrosino (transfer from Salt Lake Community College), Cory Calvert (2012 5A MVP in the state of Colorado) and Raul Delgado (transfer from Western Nebraska Community College). The returning redshirt freshmen include Ian Harward (redshirt in 2011-12) and Kyle Rose (redshirt in 2009-10 prior to serving a mission in Salt Lake City). Here are some of the highlights for the newcomers.
- Ainge averaged 13.8 points, 4.8 boards, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game as a senior at Wellesley High
- Ambrosino averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 boards while shooting .498 from the field and .438 from three for a Salt Lake Community College team that went 22-9 in 2011-12
- Calvert led Chaparral High School to the 2012 5A state title, a 25-3 record and was named the 5A MVP and all-state while averaging 22.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists
Delgado led WNCC to a 26-7 record, was named the Nebraska JC MVP and averaged 18.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while shooting .485 from the field and .433 from three.
Record streaks
The Cougars will be looking to keep several program-record streaks intact during 2012-13. Coming into the season, Dave Rose has led the Cougars to seven-straight 20-win seasons, six-straight 25-win seasons, seven-straight postseason appearances, six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, seven-straight seasons with 12-plus conference victories and three-straight seasons with a postseason victory.