BYU plays West Virginia this Saturday in West Virginia and I was trying to come up with some clever title or something to put in this blog, but how many of you knew that West Virginia’s nickname is the Mountain State?

Living in Utah, it feels like we should be called the Mountain State, but we are not. I guess I should have seen that coming since West Virginia’s mascot is the Mountaineers. I also didnt realize that its the only state completely within the Appalachian Mountains and its average elevation is higher than any other state east of the Mississippi River. There’s some state trivia for you today.

Game Recap vs Texas

But first, lets recap the game vs Texas before we dive into the game vs West Virginia this weekend. Last Saturday, BYU played Texas in Provo. It was a sold out game and was electric and loud and that was just through the TV. BYU won, 84-72. I talked last week about how BYU was getting a little nervous if they continued to have this slide of losing games and not play well. But that all seemed to disappear against Texas. The game was at home, which helped a ton, but BYU was on fire. They shot 64% overall. 64! Thats crazy. They also shot 41% from 3 and 87% from the FT line.

Last week I outlined that if BYU could force turnovers and get rebounds, BYU would win the game. Well, BYU didnt force a ton of turnovers, as Texas only had 7 all game, but they did out-rebound Texas by a margin of 8. Texas didnt shoot great from 3, only 36%, and they only shot 63% from the FT line.

BYU students in the first row also were wearing shirts that spelled out “Horns Down” and were asked to change their shirts because it was offensive. BYU said that it came from them but I dont really like that. Like them have fun and mess with the other team! Also horns down isnt really THAT offensive, people.

Biggest Key to the Game

But the biggest key for this game was that BYU had 40 paint points. Almost half of their points came from the paint. WHAT? Who is this BYU team and what happened to them? Texas actually shot 5 more 3s than BYU did. But because BYU drove the ball and went inside with posting up a lot more, it opened up the 3 point shots.

Fouss looked like himself again. He only played 18 minutes but he had a ridiculous block that led to a huge 3, while also adding 16 points and 6 rebounds. Many BYU reporters and fans were talking about how this teams doesnt have a person to close out the game. Thats why we shut down in the second half and cant close games. I think its Fouss and because he has not been 100% we have missed him in those games in the second half where we have lost leads and games.

BYU Stats

Just to look at how BYU adjusted their offense for this game, because they probably realized they were shooting too many 3s: Waterman had 11 total shots, 6 were 3s. Robinson had 11 total shots, only 2 were 3s. Johnson had 7 total shots, only 2 were 3s. Thats adjusting. Those are guys who shoot a ton of 3s. Fouss also had 7 shots and none were 3s.

Waterman and Robinson led the way for BYU. They each had 17 points followed by Fouss with 16, and Johnson and Saunders each with 11. Thats spread out scoring right there and Fouss looks to be himself and healthy again.

Game Preview vs West Virginia

BYU had their mid week BYE last night as they didnt play on their usual Tuesday night. They will resume play against West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday at 4pm MT. West Virginia is 7-13 on the season and 2-5 in the Big 12. But Morgantown isnt an easy place to play. West Virginia has beaten Kansas and Texas at home so far this season. So while their overall record and conference record may not be that great, they know how to win at home and its a hard place to play.

WVU Stats

A couple of stats on West Virginia and how they like to play basketball. They are the highest tempo team in the Big 12, have the highest FT rate (FT compared to FG), and the 3rd highest 3PFG%. In short, West Virginia likes to play like BYU. They like to get out in the fast break, push the ball, and shoot 3s. I expect this game to go back and forth, literally. This game will be up and down with each team pushing the ball. Each team better work on their cardio this week because man they are going to need it.

When West Virginia beat Kansas and Texas, they out-rebounded the other team and had great shooting games from 3. In the game against Texas, WVU shot 41% from 3. In the game against Kansas, WVU shot 57% from 3. Stopping the 3 point shooting will have to be #1 priority for BYU. Good thing BYU is 25th in the nation in 3PFG%. That will be put to the test against WVU. BYU will also need to rebound like they did against Texas.

WVU Player Breakdown

The Mountaineers have 5 guys that average double digit points. WVU’s best player might come off the bench. Quinn Slazinski averages 13.7 points a game. In his most recent game, a loss to Oklahoma St, he shot 7-12 and 4-6 from 3 for 18 points. They also had Kerr Kriisa who averages 11 points per game, score 21 against Oklahoma St on 6 3s and 3 FTs. Kriisa LOVES to shoot as you can tell from his most recent game. He is shooting 43% from 3 this year.

WVU also has 2 other players in Raequan Battle, who averages 16.3 points per game and Noah Farrakhan who averages 11.1 points per game as their main contributors. They did just get back Jesse Edwards from a fractured wrist. Hes important because he is a big lob threat and roll guy and a great rebounder. Hes also 6’11. In their last game he only played 15 minutes as it was his first game back, but that should continue to increase.

WVU plays Cincinnati tonight in Morgantown which will be a good scouting opportunity to see how they do a couple of days before playing BYU.

Prediction

ESPN Analytics gives BYU an 82% chance to win this game. I like those odds but something tells me that this game is going to be a grind it out type of game. Its not going to be easy. BYU may be a little rusty coming off of a BYE and playing on the road. I wouldnt be surprised to see WVU jump out to maybe a 6 point lead before BYU wakes up and comes back in the second half behind Fouss. Give me BYU by 5.

BYU Basketball News

BYU dropped 1 spot in the AP poll this last Monday after splitting games against #4 Houston and Texas. They are now ranked #22. If BYU can take care of business on Saturday, I would expect them to jump back into the top 20 on Monday. Its also crazy now that BYU can split two games in a week and only drop 1 spot in the top 25. That never happened in the WCC. BYU would drop a ton if they split two games. Thank goodness for the Big 12 basketball conference.

Bracketology

If youre interested in what the bracket projection looks like right now from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. Here is update. It was updated yesterday morning. He currently has BYU has a 5 seed. Also, the state of Utah is having a great college basketball season as BYU, Utah, and Utah St are all projected, right now, to be in the Big Dance. Utah is projected as a 9 seed and Utah St is projected as a 6 seed.

2024 BYU Football Schedule Release

The Big 12 released the dates for the 2024 football season yesterday. We knew the opponents but not when we were going to play, so the Big 12 announced those dates yesterday. Here’s BYU’s schedule.

Its a pretty exciting schedule I think! The things that I like and dont like about it are:

Like: BYU’s home game schedule. Aside from Southern Illinois in the first game of the season and Houston in the last game of the season, BYU is getting some good teams to come to Provo.

Kansas St is always in the running for the top of the Big 12. They finished last season ranked #18. Arizona lit the whole football world on fire to end the season and ended the season ranked #11. Oklahoma St still has Gundy as their head coach and always seem to be at the top of the Big 12. They finished the season ranked #16. Kansas hired Jeff Grimes as their OC so he will be making a return to BYU. Kansas will also have back Jalon Daniels who is an amazing QB, might be Heisman watch this upcoming year, who lit up BYU last year. They finished the season ranked #23.

Dont like: BYU vs Utah not on rivalry weekend (aka the last weekend of the season). It is a tradition to put the best rivalries on rivalry weekend, the last weekend of the season, thanksgiving weekend. But instead, BYU will play in Salt Lake against Utah November 9th, week 9, with 3 more weeks to go. The one positive is that BYU will be coming off a BYE week. Is that a positive? I dont know, it just means more hype and talk will take place with 2 weeks now to look forward to the game, but it will help with injuries and preparing for Utah.

Analysis and Prediction

The toughest stretch for BYU will be an early 4 game stretch against Kansas St at home, Baylor on the road, Arizona at home, and Oklahoma St at home. Yes, 3 of those games will be at home, but all of these games are against teams that were in the top 25 to end the season, albeit Baylor.

The easiest stretch will be the last two games. To finish with Arizona St on the road and Houston at home, will be good. They will still be tough but very winnable games.

I would like to think that BYU could go 8-4 but I would be happy with 7-5 at this point because I dont know who our QB will be and how they will be playing. So my very early prediction is 7-5.

• Southern Illinois: W
• at SMU: L
• at Wyoming: W
• Kansas St: L
• at Baylor: W
• Arizona: L
• Oklahoma St: L
• at UCF: W
• at Utah: W
• Kansas: L
• at Arizona St: W
• Houston: W

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