|
BYU hoops takes down TCU on the road |
|
|
|
|
JaredLloyd | Saturday, February 10, 2007, 11:41 pm
|
Jason Franchuk
DAILY HERALD
FORT WORTH, Texas — The horde of BYU fans who packed into Texas Christian’s basketball arena Saturday night, now almost officially known as Marriott Center South, was either too ethical or too frugal to take the vast number of empty seats that were perched closer to the action.
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum was a relaxed environment during the 85-72 Cougar win, which wasn’t nearly so tight as the final score suggests.
“Our guys played really well,” said BYU head coach Dave Rose.
The road-game atmosphere wasn’t so much about keeping the crowd hushed as it was giving at least half of the 4,824 to show up — a thousand above the team’s average attendance, and the second-largest TCU home gathering this year (Texas Tech) — a reason to cheer in the cozy, Cougar-friendly venue.
No problem there. The Cougars (19-6 overall, 9-2 Mountain West) won their sixth consecutive game and maintained a one-game lead in the conference race on Air Force, which won at New Mexico, and UNLV, which defeated Wyoming.
It was even one-sided enough that the Cougars took turns on the microphone afterward thanking the crowd and an alumni group held a short meeting. Good luck getting that treatment anywhere else in the Mountain West Conference.
“We have great support here in Texas,” said Rose, who has Lone Star State roots along with current players Keena Young, Trent Plaisted and Mike Rose.
Any BYU fan who still doesn’t have the league’s exclusive television network, The mtn., could’ve shown up to TCU and seen exactly what’s been going on everywhere else when the team’s taken the floor recently.
BYU was hot, shooting 61.5 percent from the field, and recovered easily after a quick start slipped away.
TCU fell behind 11-3 in the opening 2:28 before the crowd, ahem, could be silenced.
The Horned Frogs (10-13, 2-9) haven’t won a league game since losing in Provo on Jan. 10, and saw the skid extend to nine after failing to maintain a constantly rotating defense — the prime Frog hope for success and BYU’s top concern.
Rose credited his point guards, Austin Ainge and Ben Murdock, for recognizing frenzied matchups and getting the ball where it needed to be.
BYU hadn’t shot the ball so accurately this year. The best game shooting-wise prior to last night, 59 percent, also came against TCU.
“If you’re going to beat BYU, you have to control their outside shooting and handle their inside play 1-on-1,” said TCU coach Neil Dougherty said.
That’s not easy, as at least the Frogs can attest. The Cougars made 5-of-11 3-pointers while center Plaisted and power forward Young combined for 36 points on 65 percent (13-of-20) shooting. Young, who had 25 on 8-of-13 from the field, is averaging 21 points in the last four games.
“Yeah, it’s fun right now,” the 6-foot-6 senior said.
Coaches of both teams wore tennis shoes in theme with a national cancer benefit, setting the tone for a laid back evening. The BYU players could’ve won this one in stilettos if they desired.
They looked more at ease than normal during the pre-game warm-ups. More smiling, a few jokes here and there, and occassionally players bouncing exaggeratedly to the beat of the pep band. Not the typical MWC road game hijinks.
Rose found no fault with it. Nothing’s changed in meetings or practices. Success hasn’t gone to their heads in a bad way, he said.
Lee Cummard saw only one bad part of the game. TCU overcame the early eight-point deficit and managed to make it a battle all the way to the 13-minute mark.
“We were playing hard, but I’d say our minds went to sleep,” Cummard said.
Tied at 15 after Plaisted picked up his second foul, the Cougars nonetheless scored the next six points. It was all Young’s doing, on three tough inside moves.
The lead quickly stretched to 10 as Cummard — stat line of 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots — did his usual schtick of dirty work. A follow-up basket, then a steal and layup, had the crowd rocking again.
BYU led by 19 points late, before TCU hit some 3-pointers to close the final margin.
Sure, the Cougars had won at Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico. But there’s no way they would’ve tried a couple of performances that occured Saturday night.
In the first half, Ainge, after apparently not checking into the game correctly, jogged back to the scorer’s area in a slightly mocking tone and slapped both hands on the purple-padded table before returning to the court.
Cummard joked with the BYU radio duo aloud, just before a second-half timeout ended, about how many turnovers he had (just two for the sophomore).
And then there was the post-game ceremony, unheard of for a visiting team. Rose and some players thanked everyone for coming — just like following last year’s blowout win in Fort Worth.
Not that the show was all that original.
“We’re playing with the most confidence we’ve had all year,” Cummard said.
∫ Rose fine: BYU senior guard Mike Rose was bloodied but OK after getting blindsided with about 11 minutes left. Martiese Morones charged hard for a pass and hit Rose like a safety would’ve blasted a wide receiver. Rose recovered quickly to get to the bench, but missed several minutes as his bashed lip was swabbed.
It’s not the first time Rose has had mouth problems. He had his lip gashed before last season when he tripped on an electical cord and fell through a glass table.
Rose came back in and hit a long jump shot. He finished with three assists and six points on 2-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
∫ Tip-ins: Fernando Malaman was the only Cougar who didn’t play. The senior forward wasn’t used, coach Rose said, because of matchups. The Cougars used the bigger bodies of Gavin MacGregor and Vuk Ivanovic. ... TCU was led by Kevin Langford’s 22 points. In two losses against BYU, he’s shot 50 percent (13-of-26) and averaged 20 points. ... Young was disappointed with his foul shooting last game (at Wyoming). Instead of 9-for-15, he went 9-for-11. Plaisted, 3-for-10 last game, made his only attempt.
|
- Currently 0.0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Rating: 0.0/5 ( votes cast)
|
