A chance to repay them for last season’s loss
When: Friday November 29 – 3:30 PM
Where: LionTree Arena at UC San Diego, Rady Children’s Invitational Tournament
TV: Fox
Opponent: BYU Cougars (Big 12 Conference)
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): KP BYU 78-74 / BT BYU 76-73
Wolfpack Snapshot: KP #58 / BT #56
Wolfpack Season So Far: 5-1
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James had knee surgery on 10/30. Expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
Opponent Overview: KP #31 / BT #28
The B12 writers picked BYU to finish 9th in the league this season.
BYU hired Coach Kevin Young to replace Mark Pope, who returned to his alma mater at UK to take the departing John Calipari’s place. Coach Young’s background is pro ball, this is his first college head coaching position. He has been an associate head coach or assistant coach on the Phoenix Sun’s staff since 2016.
Their Season So Far: 5-1
BYU is currently the #6 scoring offense in the country at 90 ppg.
The Cougars have feasted on a buffet of easier teams (sounds familiar?), beating them all, all but UC Riverside convincingly. Central Arkansas +38, UC Riverside +6, Queens +44, Idaho +24, Miss Valley +44
BYU played Ole Miss in the first round of the Rady Children’s Invitational on Thanksgiving, Ole Miss won 96-85 in OT. (box score) It was a heck of a battle; a key factor was BYU’s 17 turnovers that Ole Miss converted to 23 points.
Player Notes:
- They have a unique lineup with a 6’6” center and a 6’9” guard.
- Hall and Traore were starters last season when we played, Saunders came off the bench.
- Hall and Traore were All B12 Honorable Mention last season
- Egor Demin is from Russia. He is a 247 5-star recruit. He played for Real Madrid 2 last season.
- Kanon Catchings was a recruiting target for the Wolfpack last season