Jax and Jimmer, Cougars Dismantle Rebels

I have never been happier to be wrong about a BYU prediction.  Just real quick, the 3 things that stood out to me:

1) This BYU team is mentally tough.  BYU went over 5 minutes without a point as UNLV built a 10-point lead in the first half, 25-15.  They would make it 10 again, 27-17.  But then, Jimmer and crew stepped up.  Davies scored 6 points over the last 5.5 minutes and had 4 rebounds in a 3-minute span.  Hartsock hit a huge 3.  Jimmer added 14 points in that final push before halftime.  They held UNLV to 5 points in that span and BYU went into halftime with a 3-point lead.  That 25-15 deficit against previous BYU teams would have sunk them.  Not with this team.

2) UNLV's previous success hampered them.  They had shot so well against BYU in previous games, that they took way too many long jumpers, because they expected to make them because they always had.  Tre-Von Willis was especially bad: 4-16, 2-8 from three-point land, and only 2 assists.  Oscar Bellfield was only 3-9, with two of those makes coming in the late-game flurry that cut the 21-point lead to 8 with just over a minute to go.  But even then, if you had told me UNLV was going to score 77 points in this game, I would have said they won by at least 7 points.  Granted, they scored 28 points in the last 10 minutes when they trailed by 15 points or more.

3) BYU did a very good job utilizing Collinsworth and Emery in breaking the press.  Jimmer was able to be able Jimmer because he was freed up from dealing with full-court pressure the whole game.  It's the adjustment I've been waiting to see from BYU.  Jimmer would make a quick pass to Jackson Emery and Kyle Collinsworth, then make a move away from the ball and get it back on the right side of the court.  Jimmer was freed up to score a game-high 39 points and dish out a game-high 5 assists.  Jackson Emery was open to hit 6 threes of his own.  The ability to keep the ball moving in transition also contributed to Brandon Davies 15 points and 10 rebounds, as a lot of his points came "fast break" style with an open layup from an unsettled defense or get an offensive rebound because the Rebels weren't in position to box him out.  It also helped BYU keep its turnovers down.  They had 7 in the first 10 minutes of the game and finished with 13, 3 of which came in the final 4.5 minutes of the game.  For a 25-minute stretch, BYU committed 3 turnovers against the second-best team in the nation at causing turnovers.

This team continues to impress and do things that BYU teams do not do.  As I stated about this team earlier this season (http://mo-knows-sports.blogspot.com/2010/12/this-is-not-your-typical-byu-basketball.html), this is not your typical BYU basketball team.  A typical BYU basketball team took that 10-point first half deficit and turned it into a 20 or 30-point one.  It's the whole team too, not just Jimmer.  Different guys made crucial plays at crucial times.  Magnusson had a crucial rebound and basket, Hartsock hit a timely three, Davies controlled the glass during a BYU run and added 15 points, and Jackson hit big threes from beginning to end.  And then there was Jimmer's 39 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.