BYU vs Gonzaga

Well this is it. Win one more game and we can tell all these arm chair bracketologists where they can go with their bubble talk.



I know there is hope to win tonight. BYU, besides the game vs. Santa Clara, has been on fire lately. We can lose Nate Austin for the season and make do. We can go minus Anson Winder lately and still win. Yet watching Gonzaga, they have soooo many tools. Plug this guy and that guy and they are still solid. We're very close to them in that regard, but not quite. I'm still surprised that Mark Few went to a 4 guard line-up in our last game. Karnowski is a beast and showed it in last two games and yet had less minutes than usual (22 minutes) in last BYU game.



Go Cougars :love:

I really hope Winder is ready to go. Or that Bartley plays the best game of his life. Though if Fischer and KC can keep it rolling we might just out score them.

The BYU - Gonzaga line is.....





Zags -6.5 / 153

We did it once we can do it again. The only difference between now and last time is Gonzaga will know that they can be beat by BYU. If Gonzaga was so superior to BYU they could have turned it on at any time in the last game and won. BYU can do this but it will take a really good game by everyone.

Last time we played they had gotten lazy because it was so easy and had won so many games. SMC had then down 17 but GU still won the game. Our win was a wakeup call. I expect them to play better this time.

Honestly we "can" win, but it takes a perfect storm. We won 1 of 3 games last year and they are better than that team. Are we better? It's hard to say because parts of our game seem better (we should be better as we lost no seniors), but is what we have gained better than what we lost (Eric Mica)? Good question I don't know if I can answer.

I think that as the teams stand now, with the Zags at full strength, and Winder being gimpy, I have to give the nod to them as a probable victor.



Had we had Austin in our first match up with them we could have beaten them, but the Kafusi/Sharp/Andrus group has progressed since our first meeting with them, and they are now about equal to what Austin was giving us. I fear that with Austin we could have had a better this season; without him, we will likely have a better next season.



Same with Winder. With WInder we'll have a better chance tonight; but with some of his minutes (if he's injured) going to Bartley, Bartley can develop better for next year.



I'd say the Zags have a 60/40 chance of winning with us being without Wnder, and if we have him, it'll be a toss up.

I was surprised that Wiljer played yesterday. He had a quiet 1st half but exploded in the second half. Maybe his hip will bother him tonight.

What gives me a little more hope is that Haws had a bad game last week and they still won. If everyone is playing well, it should be a great game.

With the 3, we always have a shot at any game. If Fischer can repeat last night, it will be a great game.