BYU Basketball: Bench Production and two more keys to beating Nevada

3 – Defensive Consistency

In BYU’s two preseason matches they’ve had long stretches of good defensive play, especially early on in the games.

Granted, those games were against lower-level opponents, but the defensive scheme that the Cougars employed was effective.

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The Wolf Pack will be a completely new look for the Cougars, though, and Nevada has so many offensive weapons that BYU’s defense will have to stay sharp for all 40 minutes if they want to slow them down.

Five Nevada players averaged at least eight points last year, led by Cody and Caleb Martin and Jordan Caroline. All three of those weapons are back, and only Kendall Stephens is gone among the top five scorers.

Add in 5-Star freshman big Jordan Brown, and you have four high-tier offensive weapons that the Cougars will have to account for.

It’s unrealistic to expect the Cougars to completely shut down the Wolf Pack. Nevada is too good for that and BYU isn’t good enough defensively.

But if the Cougars can play the entire game with the defensive intensity they’ve shown in stretches they have the chance to limit Nevada just enough to stay in this game.

BYU can win if they hold Nevada below 75 points, but if the Wolf Pack score more than that the Cougars will start the season 0-1.