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BYU’s reward for a conference-opening win over Portland? The 12-2 Saint Mary’s Gaels coming in to Provo Saturday afternoon. Saint Mary’s has some returners whose names will sound familiar in Emmett Naar, Calvin Hermanson, and Jock Landale.
Saint Marys’ two losses came back-to-back several games ago against Washington State and then Georgia. They’ve claimed wins over Dayton, Cal, San Jose State, Harvard, New Mexico State, and more. Their most recent win came Thursday against LMU. While the Cougs find themselves on a nine-game winning streak, the Gaels have a seven game one going.
Saint Mary's is scoring 82 ppg with the 6th-slowest tempo in college hoops. The only two teams operating with a higher offensive efficiency are NCAA tourney locks ranked in the Top 5 of the AP and Coaches polls: Duke and Villanova.
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) December 29, 2017
KenPom has BYU as a one point underdog to Saint Mary’s, giving the Cougs a 47 percent chance to win Saturday’s match-up. ESPN’s FPI supports those coin flip odds as well.
Here is how you can catch the game.
Game Date/Time:
- Saturday, December 30, 2:00 p.m. MST
Location:
- Marriott Center, Provo, Utah
Channel:
- ESPNU
Online Stream:
Radio Coverage:
- BYU Sports Network
- KSL NewsRadio (BYU call)
Sirius/XM Radio Channel 143 (BYU Radio)
Needless to say, the Cougars will need to be firing on all cylinders. Share your thoughts before, during, or after the game in the comments below.