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Provo • Senior Night will be a bit different for BYU basketball coach Dave Rose on Saturday, and not just because the Cougars are hosting a nationally ranked Saint Mary's team.
The Cougars will honor a pair of seniors who won't play in the 8 p.m. MST game, forward Kyle Davis and guard L.J. Rose.
"I think this is the first one where all the seniors are not participating because of injuries," Dave Rose said Wednesday.
Davis suffered a knee injury in late November and tried to play through it before bowing out for good after BYU's 75-73 loss to Illinois on Dec. 17. He finished his career, at his third school, averaging 11.2 points and 6.7 rebounds for BYU. In 2015-16, Davis averaged 11.9 points and 7.5 rebounds while starting all 37 games.
"My experience at BYU has been awesome," Davis said, having transferred from Utah State, and before that Southern Utah. "It is kinda unfortunate that both L.J. and I will be on the sidelines for this game. We certainly didn't want that to be the case over the summer when we were working, but overall my experience was just awesome at BYU."
Rose transferred to BYU from Houston, and to Houston from Baylor. The graduate transfer earned a degree in health at Houston and was immediately eligible to play at BYU. He started all 25 games when he was healthy, and averaged 5.5 points, 4.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game.
"L.J. was a guy who put a lot of confidence in us, and he came and got hurt early, but kinda made it through, and helped us," Dave Rose said. "He helped us a ton, started 25 games for us. So these are both guys who were really valuable and important to this team. It is just kind of a shame that they haven't been able to finish it like they would like to."
The coach said L.J. Rose had surgery in Houston last week to repair a torn meniscus and probably won't be able to play again this season.
"We will kinda go through it [with team doctors] and see what the possibilities are," Dave Rose said. "But it looks like it is probably a 4-5 week recovery, and that … it is possible, but we will see."
Mika appreciative
Without Davis and Rose, BYU started its most inexperienced team in almost 20 years on Thursday night: three sophomores and two freshmen. Last week's Pepperdine game in which sophomores Eric Mika, Elijah Bryant and Nick Emery and freshmen TJ Haws and Yoeli Childs started was the first game BYU didn't start any juniors or seniors since Dec. 9, 1998 against Washington State.
"I loved playing with both Kyle and L.J. a lot, and I appreciated them a lot, and can attribute a lot of what I have been able to do this year to them, especially Kyle because he was here during the summer and he was a big help for me, at least, coming off a mission," Mika said. "Getting back into college basketball isn't the easiest thing in the world."
Mika seconded what Emery said last week: Rose was the ultimate teammate.
"L.J. is one of the best teammates I've ever had," Mika said. "He's so knowledgeable of the game and so positive. … By coming through and overcoming a lot, they both have brought a real maturity to the locker room."
Briefly
Officials Thursday night were Gerry Pollard, Tom O'Neill and Mark Cook. … San Diego's roster features former University of Utah guard Isaiah Wright, a transfer from Boise, Idaho.
Twitter: @drewjay