:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25275107/20131214_pjc_bn1_300.0.jpg)
1. Guess who's back?:
After seven straight losses, only winning one of the last 12 games in the "Holy War", the Runnin' Utes are back to relevance. It's been quite some time since "The Sweater" (Rick Majerus) left Utah that they've been relevant. Giacoletti couldn't get it done, neither Boylen, but Utah's version of "Coach K" has the Utes back and roaring, over the Cougars that is. Of BYU's five best players, only one of them had a good game. Carlino shot 3/15, Haws shot 3/11, Collinsworth shot 3/11, Bartley IV shot 0/5. Talk about a worst case scenario game. Either BYU's offense was that bad, or Utah's defense was that good. It was apparent from the tip who the more motivated and better team was. And this time around, it wasn't BYU. Of BYU's 4 losses, 3 were against ranked teams that are still undefeated and Utah on the road who has only one loss to Boise St. on the road by 2pts.
--
2. Little House on the Prairie:
BYU did in fact get their 8th win on the season last week against a team that would look much better on PBS than on the basketball court. BYU drubbed Prairie View A&M as expected. Haws had a nice game with 19pts and 5 boards, Mika chipped in 15pts and 6 boards, Collinsworth had 19pts and 6 boards, and Nate Austin had 8pts and led the team in rebounding with 11. The game wasn't too much of a concern, but maybe it gave BYU a little sense of false confidence or the wrong mindset heading into the showdown against the Utes. We may never know, until next year that is.
--
3. Aytes to BYU:
Jamal Aytes, the highly regarded recruit BYU lost out on to UNLV gave BYU fans some good news last week that the tweener SF/PF will be transferring to BYU. He stated he was disappointed and wanted more minutes earlier in his career. He avgd around 10 minutes a game at UNLV this season. He will begin practicing in January with BYU and will be eligible to play next December. Aytes is 6'6, 230lbs. He's undersized at PF for a D1 player and might be a little slow for BYU's up-tempo offense, but he's a bruiser underneath and is very athletic. BYU fans on the Twitter-verse are comparing him to Keena Young who won MWC player of the year in his day. I think that might be a little too merciful, but with Mika leaving, Aytes will certainly compete for time at the PF spot with Luke Worthington, Isaac Nelson, Ryan Andrus, and Josh Sharp (assuming he'll be back on scholly). I look for Aytes to be the PF when Rose decides to play a smaller lineup which he has done, especially when the bigs are in foul trouble, which is often. He could also play backup to Kyle Collinsworth at the SF position if needed I've heard. Either way, it's always nice to snake talent from other schools, especially when Rose wanted him to begin with. Welcome to Provo Aytes!
--
4. Quack, Quack:
BYU is set to take on the undefeated and nationally ranked Oregon Ducks this Saturday. BYU is 0-3 against ranked teams this season, and got embarassed to their rivals. Will BYU bounce back and get a bold, resume-building win? From what we've seen so far this season, probably not. But BYU will definitely be motivated to get that bad Ute blood taste out of their mouths.
Your Turn:
1. How disappointed were you by the loss to Utah? What were the reasons we lost?
2. Does playing teams like Prairie View A&M give us "good" confidence? or "false" confidence? Explain.
3. How do you feel about Jamal Aytes transferring to BYU? What position do you think he'll play? And will he get the minutes he wants? (lack of minutes at UNLV was the reason he gave for transferring)
4. Is there any hope for BYU to beat Oregon this Saturday?
Join the conversation in the comments section below. We'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions about our Cougs.
