#14 BYU at #25 UNLV

Couple of stat matchups from espn.com



PPG-- BYU is 7th in the country average 83 ppg. UNLV is 83rd with 74.5 ppg.

FG% -- UNLV is 17th in the country averaging .489. BYU is 78th shooting .459

rebounding - BYU is 14th in the countrying averaging 41.2 rpg. UNLV is 225th at 34.6 rpg

assists - UNLV is 42nd in the country with 15.7 apg. BYU is 44th with 15.6



couple of notes from msnfoxsports.com



BYU made just 68.8 percent of its free throws in its first 11 games before shooting 80.2 percent over its final four nonconference contests.



BYU had shot 42.7 percent from 3-point range over the past three games through Jan. 2 to raise its season percentage to 34.9. The Cougars had made 32 3-pointers during that span.



UNLV has played outstanding defense most of the season, allowing opponents just 60.1 points per game and holding them to 38 percent shooting from the field through Jan. 1.



UNLV led the Mountain West by forcing 18.9 turnovers per game through Jan. 1.

a few more also from msnfoxsports.com



Runnin' Rebels Conf Rank CBK Rank

PPG 74.5 5 84

PA/G 60.1 2 30

FG% .489 3 17

Opp FG% .380 1 21

STL/G 9.3 1 23

TO/G 13.7 5 136



compared with BYU



Cougars Conf Rank CBK Rank

PPG 83.9 1 8

PA/G 65.1 6 116

FG% .459 7 76

Opp FG% .399 4 60

STL/G 8.6 2 48

TO/G 11.1 1 17



interesting that we have the two best conference stealing teams as well as the the conference's best scoring team vs the conference's best defending team (playing at home no less). One key matchup though is UNLV gives the ball away more than we do.



UNLV has stat advantages in 4/6 of these categories. Fortunately, one of those is points scored and that's really the only one that matters in the end

Most of what I see for odds give Unlv the edge by 3 points. One odds maker analyzed the game and gave the edge to BYU by 3. Should be a great game. Hope the refs let the game play out.



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BYULV wrote:
Should be a great game. Hope the refs let the game play out.



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I agree that it should be great game.



I don't agree with the last statement. I hope the refs call a good game and just don't let the teams play. Because if they let the teams play then UNLV will just manhandle BYU on the perimeter. I'd prefer a tightly called game. Of course, I don't care how they call the game, as long as they call it consistently on both ends.



A foul on BYU in the post should be foul on UNLV in the post. A foul on Jax on the perimeter should be a foul on Tre'Von on the perimeter. Stanbeck getting knocked to the floor should be a foul as often as a foul is called on Jimmer getting knocked to the floor.

I think Kyle Collinsworth is going to get a chance to shine this game. In the past UNLV focused their D on Jimmer so much but we didn't another player who could get into the paint.

Yeah if they let the hand checks and all sorts of physical contact go then BYU doesn't have a chance. The way UNLV pressures the ball and every passing lane makes it tough for our guys to get things going. UNLV knows that if they play overly physical as a unit that the refs will be more likely to swallow their whistles because the illusion created by everyone doing it will make it harder to single out one defender. Happens every time with these guys.

I just really really want this win and I hope the guys do too. Seriously, our hopes for a high seed hinge on us beating the strong conference foes on their home court since we didn't escape the non-conference schedule undefeated. Even winning the conference tourney won't help us that much. We need to beat them now.



I really hope the Collinsworth bros, Hartsock and Davies have big games because we're going to need them. Jackson going off would help a lot too but I just think that they are really going to be attacking our 3 point shooters as usual. I just don't think we'll get too many behind the arc so we'll really need a dominant effort in the post.



I also hope they stick Jackson on Willis and bottle that guy up and force the rest of the team to beat us.

Looks like Jackson may very well get the job of covering Willis:



On who he will defend:

"I see myself guarding Tre'Von, kind of like last year. But you know what? They have a lot of weapons. They have a lot of guys who can penetrate and score, Bellfield, Marshall, so I think I am going to see anyone of those guys."

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsbyusports/50989819-65/game-emery-unlv-byu.html.csp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



There's a lot of other good comments in there by Emery too. Also Chris C. likely out for tonight. Bummer. We could have really used him tonight. He's been a strong presence off the bench of late.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsbyusports/50989819-65/game-emery-unlv-byu.html.csp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Another quote from the above article from Jackson

On what does UNLV does well:

"They take you out of what you do best. The hard thing about UNLV is that you just gotta play. That sounds funny, but you can't really run your plays. They put a lot of pressure on you, and switch on you. They sort of say, hey, if you are going to beat us, you have to beat us one on one. That's a hard think to learn, because we are such a pass first kind of team. They make us dribble. But we have enough guys that can do that, and hopefully we can adjust to that."

This is the sort of thing that Kyle Collinsworth is very good at. Abouo could be but he doesn't seem able to finish plays so it is going to be the Jimmer and KC show.

Should be a Jimmer and Davies show.



UNLV brings the pressure and I hope rather than trying to dribble through the pressure Jimmer recognizes it early and opts to pass it inside. Davies and Noah should eat UNLV up inside. Rather than pass it back out Davies and Noah need to go up with the ball.



It's a great game for some gives and goes between Jimmer and Davies as well. I can see UNLV doubling Jimmer up high at the 3 point line. A quick pass to Davies in the key and cut to the basket by Jimmer followed by the pass from Davies ought to do well in this game.