Monkey Officially Removed… Next up, KSU.

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Whew!  It took two overtimes, monster games from Jimmer and Lloyd and a giant crowbar, but he Cougars were finally able to pry that monkey from their backs.  The Cougars needed every bit of the 63 combined points from Fredette and Lloyd.  You have to give a lot of credit to both teams, Florida played a great game and fought back from a 13 point deficit, while BYU didn’t fold down the stretch in regulation or in OT when they were down. A major concern for BYU is that they continue to struggle on the defensive glass versus athletic teams. Florida’s 17 offensive rebound kept the Gators in the game.

Next up is Kansas State. Watching the Wildcats dismantle North Texas the thought occurred to me that KSU looks like a Final Four caliber team. BYU will have to bring it’s A+ game to have any shot Saturday. K-State has the athletes to give BYU problems on both ends of the court. Clemente and Pullen are by far the best guard tandem the Cougars have faced this year, and their inside players are extremely long, strong and athletic. Jimmer is going to have a much more difficult time getting his way with this team. They can defend on the outside and block shots on the inside. Of the Wildcats seven losses this year,  three of them have come at the hands of Kansas. The Wildcats are Texas A&M on steroids.

Because of the athletic advantage of the KSU front court players, the Cougars may be forced to zone the Wildcats much of the game and hope that they don’t hit their outside shots. Another potential problem with the zone is that it opens up the opportunity for offensive rebounds, a KSU strength. On offense the Cougars will need to drain virtually every open outside shot they may get because I expect the Cougars to have difficulty getting anything going on the inside against this team.

This is a very  tough match up for the Cougars, but then again after finally getting this first round win under their belts the Cougar can just relax and let it all hang out. They’ve got nothing to lose now and everything from here on out is gravy.