Cleaning out the BYU notebook

The Cougars have now had three straight games with a sub-par shooting first half. However, they’ve won two of those games with grind-it-out hard-nosed basketball and defense. But the one they lost to UNLV, was partly due to some defensive lapses. So it’s been a mixed bag for the Cougars, but that’s usually what it takes to get over the highs and the lows of a long season.
It’s obvious that teams are starting to defend the Cougars differently, and are doing a better job of taking away the transition game and forcing them into a half-court game. The nine assists on Tuesday night at San Diego State was a season low. But the 12 steals was a season high.
Here are some interesting quotes following BYU’s road win over the Aztecs:
BYU coach Dave Rose:
“We didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half and that affected our whole body language and how we were playing.”
“They were just really hurting us off the basket, so we thought maybe we’d zone and see if we could stop them from getting the ball in so deep.”
“Most of what was going on at halftime was just to challenge the players to respond to the situation. It was a really big game, and we didn’t play our best half, so we needed to play better and I thought the players really responded.”
“Each one of these players has got a real confident look to them, and it seemed like we got stuck on 18 for about seven minutes, and our body language got bad.”
“It’s a huge win for this game, but what it does next for your confidence and what’s next is really important.”
On getting a split on the two-game road trip to UNLV and San Diego State: “It’s a tough turnaround. You’re playing two of the best teams in the league. It’s more preparation and a lot of travel. I just really think these guys deserve all the credit for how they responded.”
Jimmer Fredette:
“Obviously in the first half it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but coach came in and gave us a good (halftime) talk.”
“We did a good job in that zone of deflecting balls, getting steals and getting back into the game.”
“I was feeling good and my legs were feeling great . . . we knew we had this game once we started getting our game going.”
“I was just trying to be aggressive and do whatever it took for my team to win the game.”
“We (with Tuesday’s road win) put pressure on other teams to go out and get away victories, which is tough.”
San Diego State coach Steve Fisher:
“BYU was a big part of (us) losing. I told (my players) after the game that if this doesn’t hurt and sting a little more than any (loss) we’ve had all year for all of us, then something is wrong.”
“(Jimmer Fredette) is a good player. They have three guys that can do on any night what he did. He did it tonight. He was obviously the answer . . . he’s clever and he’s got strength about him.”
San Diego State forward Lorenzo Wade:
“There is no excuse to let Jimmer Fredette come in here and score 28 points. That’s impossible. They kept running the same play over and over again. They were splitting our heads, he was getting to the basket and easy things were happening.”