BYU defense covering Cougar early shooting woes

It is officially a trend now.

BYU’s offense is stumbling out of the chute in every game for more than a week. Happened against Utah at home, repeated at UNLV, again it happened at SDSU and last night in Laramie it was a copy cat act.

Why?

There could be a lot of reasons. Teams are defending the Cougars better the second time around. The patented fast-break transition buckets the Cougars are famous for — their meat and potatoes — have been limited by teams hustling back. The Cougars might be taking some open shots and missing, but they aren’t that open and they are often outside the rhythm the Cougars find in the second half. After intermission, opposing defenses tend to have already exploded with their initial burst of energy, effort and design. They don’t seem to have the same gas in the second half to deal with three of the league’s top scorers.

On the other hand, Dave Rose is getting outstanding defense from his team, particularly in the second half and that is elevating his team’s energy on the other end of the court. Thus, these explosive comebacks which have resulted in double-digit wins and an almost miracle comeback against the Rebels in Las Vegas.

I credit Lee Cummard for setting the tone. But Chris Miles and Jackson Emery really stand out. They are hard workers, never take plays off and are high energy players who take the competitive challenge serious.

No question Emery’s work on Wyoming sharpshooter Sean Ogirri proved huge in the ninth-straight Cougar win over the Cowboys. Ogirri looked like Carmelo Anthony in the first half scoring 17 points on five treys. Emery limited him to one 3-point field goal in the second half and he was 2 for 7 from the field in that span.

Miles was assigned to guard Tyson Johnson, a very athletic player who can rebound. Johnson ended up 1 for 8 in the second half and just 3 fo 12 in the game.

The Cougars stand 23-6 and 11-4 in MWC play where their margin of victory is head and shoulders above the rest of the league, close to 15 points. The odds were against him a week ago, to have a chance at a piece of the title. But Rose has done this again and again since taking the job. Maybe the odds are that BYU finishes strong and gets titles for a reason.

Heath Schroyer, no stranger to the job Dave Rose does, heaped on the praise after his squad lost.

“It’s like playing the (New York) Yankees. They’re good and they’re good every year,” said Schroyer of BYU.

“My hat’s off to them. They made plays down the stretch.”