1) They sure let them play. On both ends of the court. It made for some ugly basketball. It was nearly impossible to get a foul called on a shot. Then they called a lot of the ticky-tack stuff on the dribble and on rebounds. It seems the refs were too busy watching the shot clock to see much of the rest of the action though. In a game as physical as it was: 28 total fouls called. And that missed goaltend was absolutely atrocious: three refs on the court and not one of them was watching the basketball? K, no more refs talk: it wasn't biased, it was just bad.
2) James, don't call me Jimmer, Anderson had some huge plays. He looks awful out there, but he got it done tonight. 5 blocks, 3 rebounds, and an offensive board and layup that gave BYU a 6-point lead midway through the second half. Without his defense, SDSU would have hung around longer and had a chance to win at the end. I know, I can't believe I'm saying this either: BYU needed James Anderson tonight.
3) It is absolutely unbelievable that Jimmer scored 43 points. He was double-teamed on nearly every possession. SDSU did not let him get out in transition ever. He had to earn every single point he got (minus two gift free throws on a ticky-tack call, which slightly made up for all of the no-calls in the first half...k, no more ref talk, starting now). To get 43 in that game, under those circumstances, with all of the hype leading up to it, against a top 10 team. Wow. There are no more words to describe Jimmer. They have all been said already.
4) The win at CSU made this game against SDSU even bigger. Now this win makes the game at the Pit on Saturday bigger than both of them. BYU cannot afford to follow up a win against SDSU on the big stage with a flop at New Mexico, even though it is such a tough place to play. BYU has simply got to have that game if they want a great seed and preferential treatment in the NCAA Tournament. Of course, if they get that game in the Pit, it just proves that they can win in March too, with or without a great seed.
5) BYU just simply found a way to win tonight. They have been winning games so many different ways, but this one was brand new. Emery, Hartsock, and Collinsworth combine for 10 points. Anderson plays 14 minutes. SDSU gets 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounds BYU by 7 in total. Kawhi Leonard scores 22 points and gets 15 rebounds. And BYU won by 13 points? Against a top 10 team? No chance that should happen. Jimmer can carry the team on his back if he has to.
6) I firmly believe that BYU has a great chance to win at SDSU in exactly one month. First off, defensively, everybody (but Collinsworth in the second half) did very well. Early on SDSU was hitting some tough shots, eventually it was going to catch up to them and it did. BYU had a brief spat with poor rebounding at the end when the game got frantic. Secondly, with all of the role players going into a complete shell for most of the game, they still scored 71 points. I don't think we'll ever see Emery 1-7 again, with his only make being a dunk, and missing four open threes, and five in total. The bench went 1 for 9 with 4 points. 6 of the 8 Cougars that stepped on the floor played poorly on offense. If they get any production from the rest of the group, they should have a chance in San Diego. That one is on an even bigger stage than this one though: can the role players deal with even bigger hype? If one of them does, it may be enough.
7) The altitude and the crowd played a big role. This is a typical BYU-SDSU game played in Provo: SDSU hangs with BYU for 35 minutes. At the 5-minute mark in the second half, it was 56-52. Two minutes later it was a 10-point game. The last 5 minutes for SDSU featured 2-6 from the free throw line, 0-5 from three, and scoring only 6 points despite getting 7 offensive rebounds and only 1 turnover. SDSU was forced to take a timeout every time the crowd got really into it. Those two factors were huge. When BYU went on that late run, SDSU only had one timeout and needed to save it.
I am now a full-fledged believer. I guess that means BYU will lose on Saturday. That is the BYU I grew up with: toy with you, toy with you, reel you in, and then let you down. I am fully ready to be let down, because I am fully on-board with BYU playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and who knows, maybe even that final weekend if they get the right draw. They probably got a better shot at the West Regional and also Denver on the first weekend with this win against SDSU.
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