Cougar coach Mark Pope rebuilt his roster and rebuilt his schedule. And his team in a similar spot to where it was a year ago.
After the profound disappointment that accompanied the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the pandemic last March, BYU coach Mark Pope turned his attention to the 2020-21 season.
Pope had to rebuild his roster, which lost seven seniors and 70% of its scoring production from a 24-win team that was projected to receive a single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament in 2020.
With guard Alex Barcello, Pope had a solid veteran to rebuild around. He recruited transfers like 7-foot-3 Matt Haarms from Purdue and lightning-quick guard Brandon Averette from Utah Valley University and he added athletic freshman Caleb Lohner and dynamic junior college transfer Gideon George.
Then last fall, Pope had to rebuild his non-conference schedule, which was altered significantly due to the pandemic.
Despite all of those challenges, it’s mid-March now, and BYU (20-6) is right back where it was a year ago — eagerly awaiting Selection Sunday.
The Cougars have been waiting for this day for a long time, as they’re set to return to the Big Dance for the first time since 2015.
BYU will find out its seed, and its first-round opponent, Sunday (4 p.m., MST, CBS) when the brackets are revealed for a unique NCAA Tournament that will be played entirely in the state of Indiana.
The Cougars are projected to receive a No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed, according to the experts.
For example, on Saturday morning, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi moved BYU from a No. 7 seed — where it’s been projected for weeks — up to a No. 6 seed, facing No. 11 Michigan State.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has the Cougars slotted as a No. 8 seed, taking on No. 9 Wisconsin.
Since NCAA Tournament seeding started in 1979, BYU has played in the tournament 22 times. The Cougars’ seeds over those years: No. 8 (5 times); No. 10 (4); No. 12 (4); No. 7 (2); No. 4 (2); No. 3 (2); No. 6 (1); No. 11 (1); and No. 14 (1).
Before the season tipped off last November, Barcello was optimistic about what his team could accomplish.
“I think we have a lot of potential. We have a stacked roster. A lot of different pieces that when it comes together, it’s going to be pretty scary in my own thoughts. I think there’s a high ceiling for this team. I don’t think we should limit our goals in anything. I think all of us have the same mindset,” he said.
“We’ve talked a lot about it as a group and with the coaches. We’re set out to win every game that we can, then go win a WCC championship and a national championship. I think the sky’s the limit for this group. We’re coming in attacking every day and we’re just going to keep going.”
Led by seniors Barcello, Haarms and Averette, the Cougars have had their eyes on the NCAA Tournament since last offseason.
“You couldn’t ask for three better people to represent BYU,” Pope has said, “and they’re just getting started. We’ve got a run here. We’ve got the best part of the season immediately ahead of us. They’re pretty focused on accomplishing something.”
The Cougars fell 88-78 in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game against No. 1 Gonzaga last Tuesday night in Las Vegas. BYU played almost an impeccable first half against the Zags, and it led 53-41 at halftime. The Cougars maintained their lead until about the seven-minute mark.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few was impressed with BYU’s performance against his team, which is expected to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and has rarely been challenged this season.
“This is a great game for us. We got punched in the face. I hope that everybody took notice of how good this BYU team is,” Few said after the game. “They have rim protection in Haarms, they have shooters on the perimeter that are starting to shoot the ball well and play better, they have excellent ball screen readers and decision-makers in Barcello and Averette. That’s a very, very, very good basketball team. They pushed us to the brink. I give them a lot of credit.”
Added Few: “It ended up being a great ballgame. I want to give BYU a ton of credit. They really took the fight to us, especially in that first 20 minutes. We couldn’t stop them. They had us on roller skates. They were outcompeting us and beating us to balls. They were executing their offense and making big shots. I think they showed themselves to be a heckuva team and a top 25-level team.”
BYU is No. 20 in the NCAA’s NET rankings as of Saturday. The Cougars have a 3-4 record in Quad 1 games, a 5-2 record in Quad 2 games and an 11-0 record in Quad 3 and 4 games.
Three of BYU’s Quad 1 losses were to the Zags. The Cougars have road wins over Utah State and San Diego State, which have bolstered their resume.
“Studying BYU’s schedule. Flexibility created by the WCC’s 16-game league slate allowed the Cougars to schedule their way into the at-large discussion,” CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein tweeted recently. “More non power conferences should follow suit.”
Studying BYU's schedule. Flexibility created by the WCC's 16-game league slate allowed the Cougars to schedule their way into the at-large discussion. More non power conferences should follow suit.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 1, 2021
It’s been a long year for the BYU basketball program and a lot has happened during that time, a lot of rebuilding, but the Cougars are finally on the cusp of returning to the NCAA Tournament.
Selection Sunday is almost here.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/38EE6wx
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