BYU basketball: Previewing the Westminster Griffins
BYU basketball hosts the Westminster College Griffins on Wednesday night in an exhibition contest. Here’s what to know for the Griffins as they come to Provo.
BYU basketball’s first exhibition was a success, picking up a 79-73 win over New Mexico last week. Now the Cougars have their second exhibition contest, hosting the Westminster College Griffins.
BYU basketball shouldn’t have any trouble at all handling the Griffins – especially in the Marriott Center – in the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Westminster plays in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and finished 16-8 last season. The Griffins were picked to finish fourth in the RMAC this season. They also finished fourth last season.
However, Westminster was first in the conference in field goal percentage (40 percent), and free throw percentage (79.3 percent).
The Griffins will be led by senior forward Dayon Goodman, who made the RMAC Second Team last season and the preseason RMAC First Team this year.
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Goodman averaged 15.8 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game and nearly two assists per game. He averaged 30.8 minutes per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range.
Westminster also features junior forward Travis Devashrayee. Devashrayee is the husband of BYU women’s basketball player Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee.
Last season, the 6-foot-5 forward played about 21 minutes per night. He averaged 8.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 57 percent shooting from the field and 60 percent from the 3-point line.
As far as BYU basketball is concerned, I’ll be looking to see if the Cougars can slow down Westminster’s shooters. While Westminster is no powerhouse, Goodman is still a very good player – so if he runs roughshod, then it will be clear the Cougars have more work to do defensively.
It will also be nice to see if Jahshire Hardnett can continue his run of inspired play. I have a hard time believing he’ll knock Nick Emery out of the starting lineup, but there’s no question the Chipola College transfer has outplayed the junior as of yet.