Basketball season has been over for almost two months now but I decided I wanted to look back over the last 10 seasons and put out my five favorite games under head coach Dave Rose.
#5 – January 31, 2007: BYU 76, Utah 66
I am making this my number five pick because I was sitting in the stands at the Huntsman Center and watched Jonathan Tavernari and Keena Young push the Cougars to their first victory in Salt Lake City in 13 years.
Dec 14, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars fans before the game against the Utah Utes at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Tavernari scored 17 points off the bench for the Cougars and Young scored 21 points to lead the Cougars. The Cougars shot 52.6 percent from the field on the night out rebounded the Utes 33-26.
#4 – March 13, 2012: BYU 78, Iona 72
President Obama watched Western Kentucky erase a 16-point deficit to win the first play-in game. He should have stayed for the second because it was even more entertaining.
BYU trailed by 25 points in the first half to Iona but staged a rally that rivals what you see on The Fast and The Furious. It was the largest comeback in NCAA Tournament History which took place in 2001 when Duke overcame a 22-point deficit to Maryland, in the Final Four.
Noah Hartsock had 17 second half points and Brandon Davies had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
#3 – March 11, 2011: BYU 87, New Mexico 76
It was the final Mountain West Conference tournament for seniors Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery. It was in a town known for show business and entertainment.
It was a night that Cougar fans will remember for a long time as Jimmer Fredette torched the New Mexico defense to the tune of a career-high 52 points. In the process he shattered the career school scoring record and surpassed Danny Ainge and the school single-game scoring record at the same time.
#2 – March 19, 2011: BYU 89, Gonzaga 67
Honestly I believe this was the biggest game in the Dave Rose era. First, because it was a chance to get to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years. Second, because a team that was considered a potential Final Four team with Brandon Davies in the lineup was playing without him due to honor code violations. Third, it would be the first of many games BYU would face Gonzaga because BYU was moving to the West Coast Conference the following season.
March 10, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Brigham Young Cougars center Corbin Kaufusi (44) and Gonzaga Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski (24) jump for the opening tipoff during the first half in the finals of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
It was a dominating effort by the Cougars as they beat the Zags 89-67 before a crowd of more than 19,000 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Jimmer Fredette scored 34 points. Noah Hartsock had 13 and Jackson Emery pitched in with 16 points. Even when the Cougars best defensive players in Hartsock and Charles Abouo went to the bench early with foul trouble, reserve center James Anderson and reserve forward Logan Magnusson along with Stephen Rogers off the bench helped keep Gonzaga in check.
It might have been known as “The Jimmer Show” but it was a complete team effort that pushed their overall record to a school best 32-4.
#1 – February 26, 2011: BYU 80, SDSU 67
This game is by far my favorite for three different reasons. The first is that it was broadcast on CBS. Not on The Mtn. Not on CBSsports channel. Not on Root Sports. It was a national broadcast and hall of fame broadcaster Verne Lundquist was calling the game along with Clark Kellogg and Bill Raftery. Second is because BYU was the underdog in this game even though they had defeated San Diego State earlier in the year in Provo. Third, it quieted the raucous sellout crowd of 12,414 at Viejas Arena who before the game were chanting “I believe that we will win.”
Dec 17, 2013; Charlotte, NC, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Jimmer Fredette (7) drives to the basket as he is defended by Charlotte Bobcats forward Cody Zeller (40) and guard Ramon Sessions (7) during the first half of the game at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
Jimmer Fredette had a game-high 25 points. Charles Abouo finished with 18 and Noah Hartsock had 15 in the win.
Abouo had the first defining moment of the game in the first half. He took a corner three-pointer from the left corner and it hit off the backboard and went in. It was the first three-point bucket of the game for the Cougars and they went on to hit 14 from downtown in the game.
Fredette put the stamp on the game in the other defining moment of this game when he went baseline and found Brandon Davies cutting down the baseline who then slammed it home. It was the exclamation point on one of the biggest wins in school history.
I know that I left out this year’s win over Gonzaga in Spokane and the win over Florida in the 2010 NCAA tournament but the ones I have mentioned were my favorites under Dave Rose. What are your favorites?