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Provo • Tyler Haws is not walking through that door. Neither is Jimmer Fredette, Brandon Davies, Lee Cummard nor Keena Young.
When the BYU Cougars have had their best basketball teams in the Dave Rose era, they've generally had a dominant scorer, a guy who can shoulder the load when the transition game isn't working well and half-court sets and free throws are needed most.
The 4-1 Cougars are relying on a scoring-by-committee approach this year, with mixed results so far against a rather easy schedule.
The degree-of-difficulty meter changes drastically Wednesday night when the Cougars travel to Salt Lake City to take on the rival Utes (8 p.m. MT, Pac-12 network) and continues Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena in SLC against red-hot Weber State. Utah State and Colorado are also on this month's schedule.
After last Wednesday's less-than-satisfying 75-68 win over a Mississippi Valley State team that teams perceived to be weaker than some BYU had routed, Rose said the Cougars were still very much a "work in progress" and a team "trying to find ourselves for a consistent 40 minutes" and "a step slow" and a club that hadn't learned how to play with "urgency, and more confidence" on offense.
His tone changed a bit after Saturday's 95-81 win over Belmont, a win that followed what players described as a rugged and intense Thanksgiving Day practice at the Marriott Center.
"I am just really pleased to see them [improve]," Rose said. "I thought we really played consistently, with the urgency that we need to play with. And we were playing with each other. I think we shared the ball really well. Hopefully we made some real steps forward, coming together as a group tonight."
BYU's offensive trademark in November was balance: all five starters averaged in double figures, from senior guard Kyle Collinsworth's 15.6 points per game to sophomore center Corbin Kaufusi's 10.6. Freshman Nick Emery had a Haws-like 27 against Belmont to boost his average to 15.4, while junior Kyle Davis is averaging 12.2 and senior Chase Fischer has fought through a shooting slump to post an 11.4 average.
Emery is surpassing expectations, which already were quite lofty.
"Nick has got a real diverse game," Rose said. "I mean, he can play on attack. I think that's the best thing that he is doing for us right now. He is really coming hard off of screens in our play calls. He is getting a lot of confidence in where he is going to get his shots. And he is a guy who is really opportunistic in transition, where he can take it hard with his left hand and score, or he can take it hard with his right hand. He is becoming a pretty consistent scorer for a young player."
To hang with the Utes at the Huntsman Center, BYU will need Fischer to hit shots, something that wasn't happening for the team captain until the second half of the Belmont game.
"It was a tough stretch for me, and it was really rewarding in that second half for those shots to go in and to kinda get my mojo back," Fischer said. "It was big for me because I am going to need to play well against these good teams for us to get some big wins, especially on the road."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Where BYU basketball ranks
Category Actual National rank
Scoring offense 83.4 ppg. 45th
FG shooting 47.1 pct. 87th
FT shooting 58.4 pct. 334th
3-point shooting 32.8 pct. 189th —
BYU at Utah
P Wednesday, 8 p.m.
TV • Pac-12 Network