This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • It was just a pair of wins over the two worst teams in the West Coast Conference, but the BYU Cougars believe they may have found the recipe for more late-January and February success in the victories over Pepperdine at the Marriott Center and Pacific on the road last week.
"That's a good confidence-booster for us," said freshman guard TJ Haws, who had 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting in the wins.
Coach Dave Rose concurred after the 62-47 win over Pacific, saying there has been a "different energy and aggression level to our team" both in practices and games since the Cougars were upset 88-75 at San Diego on Jan. 14.
"Just the aggressiveness of us on the offensive end, and on the defensive end, challenging shots, second efforts, dropping down and making a play on a big guy, our guards hustling," Rose said. "We put two games back to back together and hopefully next week we can continue with that. That will be the main theme, is just how aggressive we play and stay together in it."
Another talking point this week will be the health of sophomore guard Nick Emery, who suffered some sort of left knee injury with 14 minutes and 34 seconds remaining against the Tigers. Rose and trainer Rob Ramos said Emery will be evaluated by doctors early this week.
Emery will be missed if he can't return, but the emergence of fellow sophomore Elijah Bryant should help in that regard. Bryant had nine points and three assists in 29 minutes off the bench against the Tigers.
"I just think that our guys are in a much better mindset," Rose said. "I think that the use of our bench is better. Elijah is coming in and really giving us a spark. He can play multiple positions and that helps our substitution patterns. I think Corb [Kaufusi] has given us a nice lift. And so I think we are in a better spot."
The Cougars finally put together a solid 40 minutes of play away from the Marriott Center on Saturday, and they will need more of the same this Thursday when they head out to Santa Clara, which is significantly better than Pacific.
Tipoff is at 9 p.m. MST at Leavey Center, and the game will be televised by ESPNU.
Santa Clara (11-10 overall) has won three of its last four games, the only setback an 88-57 loss to No. 4 Gonzaga. Since getting pummeled 89-59 by BYU on Dec. 29, the Broncos are 5-2 under first-year coach Herb Sendek.
"This game is all about confidence," Eric Mika said after his 13th double-double, 17 points and 12 rebounds. "A lot of teams have a lot of talent. It is just how you are going to use it and how confident you are going into games. We are on a bit of a roll, we are feeling good and we are playing right and we just want to keep learning, improving and winning games."
The Broncos edged Loyola Marymount 64-63 Saturday on Jared Brownridge's 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining, and can move into a tie for third with BYU in the conference standings with a victory.
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU at Santa Clara
P Thursday, 9 p.m. MST TV • ESPNU