5 minutes until tipoff

BYU is warming up on the court here at the Marriott Center and Brandon Davies is conspicuously absent. The sophomore forward was suspended Tuesday and now the Cougars must regroup. It will be interesting to see what new wrinkles the coaching staff comes up with to compensate for Davies’ absence. I’m guessing the Cougars we’ll see big contributions from James Anderson, Noah Hartsock, Charles Abouo, Kyle Collinsworth and Logan Magnusson.

From watching the team in warmups, I get the feeling this adversity has brought the players and coaches together more than ever. I’m sure it’s been difficult to swallow the fact they’ll be without Davies. But the should come out determined to keep winning without him.

In pregame comments to KSL radio, coach Dave Rose said Anderson will likely start tonight and “our expectations are still the same and I think our guys are up to the challenge.”