Burgess/Murdock answer the bell for champs

One of the more interesting aspects of Wednesday’s final BYU game in the Marriott Center this year was the matchup between the guards.

Ben Murdock and Sam Burgess against Brandon Ewing and Brad Jones. Athletically? There is no comparison, Wyoming wins. Fitting in and running a system and taking on the amour of an entire team concept? No contest, BYU wins.

Murdock and Burgess accounted for themselves in a big way during the win Wednesday night. They had to deal with a ton of emotion, it being the final time they’d play a game on that floor before fans. Lee Cummard thought he saw the start of some tears in the eyes of Burgess in the locker room before the game, but admitted he may have been wrong. Murdock’s first shot was so off, he told Cummard later he missed by a mile he was so cranked up.

You could tell how fired up and focused Burgess was before the game when he, his parents and his wife were on the floor during a ceremony honoring the seniors. After the brief presentation of the senior gift, the three seniors shuffled off the floor. Burgess was so into it, anticipating the game, he turned and walked four steps ahead of his wife, leaving her trailing like an orphan, which I don’t think he ordinarily would do.

Kevin McKinney, Wyoming’s associated athletic director, does Cowboy color commentary on radio broadcasts through flag station KFBC and he’s been in Laramie since they took the ‘Fort’ off the road sign outside of town.

McKinney says Ewing and Jones have struggled this year adapting to the structured offense brought by first-year coach Heath Schroyer. Where Ewing is used to being the main scoring machine, Jones has had a career of doing and going whereever he pleased.

Now, Jones is a wing man and Ewing is a point guard and it’s their job to get the ball to Wyoming’s post men.

This was a labor intensive job against the Cougars as it has all season. Taking away the freelance freedom of these two players is like transplanting a gator to the North Pole. He ease at which seniors Burgess and Murdock work BYU’s inside-out offense, is why the Cougars are champions, in most games, they make it look easy.

“They’ve struggled,’ said McKinney of Jones and Ewing. ‘At times it’s really been hard,” said McKinney. “But they have my respect because they’re doing it and as of late, they’ve really come on.

Ewing has captured the lost art of consistently making mid-range jump shots. His is a product of the playgrounds of Chicago where he was a first-team All-State player in high school. Jones may be the best rebounding guard in Wyoming basketball history. As a pair, they force the action, draw a ton of fouls and are as talented as any guards in the conference.

Ewing leads the league in assists, yet he is behind Murdock in assist to turnover ratio. Ewing averages the most minutes of any player in the league, 38 a game. He is one of the most productive free throw shooters in the conference and he’ll return next season. Jones is done after the MWC tournament.

Talented? Absolutely.

Yet, Wyoming will finish next to last in the league.

You could see the weakness in Wyoming’s offense in this game against a great system defense deployed by BYU in this game. Wyoming’s talented backcourt was negated by superior defensive strategy. BYU had a whopping 14 steals, Jonathan Tavernari had a career high five.

Anyway, it was a interesting break down of this matchup.

Speaking of Tavernari’

He broke Andy Toolson’s three-point mark in this game. Afterwards, he celebrated the title so hard, he put off his customary quick entry to the press room for interviews.

Late after the game, after the festivities died down, Tavernari met with reporters. I had already sent in my column due to a 10:45 p.m. deadline, my main interview for the column was with Toolson.

Tavernari told the media he is very aware of the man who previously owned the record. For years, in attending BYU summer camps, he had got to know Toolson and talked to him. He was very aware of his record, that it was Toolson that had set it in 1990 because he had looked it up in the BYU basketball media guide.

‘When I broke it, I pointed to him in the stands to recognize him. I respect him, he is a great person,’ said Tavernari.