1) Obviously, Jimmer's 52 points, 59% shooting, and 50% from three were huge. John Anderson gave an awesome interview with Jimmer tonight on Sportscenter: Jimmer, you're on this show more than I am. Later: looking at the stat sheet, those 4 assists really stand out. Anyway, The Jimmer was not to be denied. The fact that he didn't shoot a single free throw until his 50th point is ridiculous. He was fouled at least a half a dozen times before that...in the act of shooting, not counting the rest...
2) Kyle Collinsworth's 9 rebounds, including 5 offensive rebounds, were big-time. Without Davies, against teams with solid inside presence, the question is: how will BYU fare on the boards. Thanks in large part to Collinsworth, New Mexico only had a plus-2 advantage on the glass. Abouo and Hartsock also contributed 13 rebounds together. On a night where Drew Gordon had 15 boards, those three stepped up to keep it even, Collinsworth in particular.
3) Jackson Emery's 5 steals, including three clutch ones as BYU started to pull away in the last 10 minutes, made the win possible. He also had 5 assists to go with those 5 steals. On a night where he was 1-7 from three, 3-11 overall, he needed to find other ways to contribute. He also added 7-8 on free throws. He, and the rest of the Cougars, also recovered well and kept New Mexico from getting those open threes in the corner. After connecting on his first two, Phillip McDonald went 0 for the rest of the night and was held to just 8 points, after scoring 26 last time. I'm giving the main props to Emery here, but it was really a team effort getting out to the open shooters in the second half.
4) Noah Hartsock's 3 blocks were more than the entire Lobo team, whose only block came on Charles Abouo's desperation 3 at the end of the first half. For Hartsock to single-handedly outblock a more physical, bigger team is impressive. New Mexico knew he was the only shot-blocking threat, and he still had more than their entire team. Nails.
5) BYU's 6 turnovers were vital, compared with 14 for New Mexico (a lot of which came in Dairese Gary's absence). They may have wasted some possessions in other ways, but it wasn't with turnovers that allowed New Mexico to get out and run. BYU valued the basketball, particularly in the last 10 minutes: Jimmer had 1 turnover at about the 10-minute mark. The only other turnover in the last 10 minutes was a completely bogus offensive foul call on Charles Abouo.
Those are the five reasons BYU won the game. Jimmer provided the scoring, Collinsworth the offensive rebounding, Jackson the steals that led to easy baskets in transition, Noah creating problems in the lane for Lobo penetrators, and BYU valuing the basketball.
Next up: well, as of right now, it's a 4-point game between SDSU and UNLV with about 6 minutes left. I'd put my money on SDSU, though I have made my case for why the MWC's final real Tourney needs to finish with BYU-UNLV. They have been the flagship programs of the 11-year history of the MWC, it's got to end with those two squaring off.
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