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BYU Basketball: Cougars can’t take the Demons lightly

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars talks with head coach Dave Rose as Childs comes out of the team's semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament after scoring a career-high 33 points against the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars talks with head coach Dave Rose as Childs comes out of the team's semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament after scoring a career-high 33 points against the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cougars won 85-72. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Northwestern State comes to Provo to take on BYU Basketball on Tuesday night, and the Demons aren’t a team the Cougars can take too lightly.

Demons are invading Provo on Tuesday night, looking to take down BYU Basketball.

The Cougars host Northwestern State, who will come to the Marriott Center with one thing in mind: an upset.

And that’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Just look at their last game. The Demons traveled to Texas to take on SMU and hung with the Mustangs throughout the entire game. They ultimately lost by eleven, but the Mustangs never could put the Demons completely away.

Had Northwestern State been able to control the tempo they might have pulled off the upset. The Demons want to play uptempo ball, but they weren’t able to push the pace against SMU.

They pushed the pace plenty in their season-opening win against Centenary. The Demons raced away with the 102-62 win, getting 72 shots up in the 40-minute game.

That means the showdown in the Marriott Center could turn into a track meet. BYU plays best when they push the tempo, and so does Northwestern State.

If the game does slow down, though, the Cougars have the advantage in a half-court game. The Demons have just one go-to player in the half-court, senior forward Ishmael Lane. He’s a prototypical stretch-four with good shooting range who has led the Demons in scoring in both of their games so far this season (15 against Centenary, 24 against SMU).

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The Cougars have more talent and should be able to pull away from the Demons, but they’ve got to do a few things well to win decisively:

  • Outshoot the Demons – Northwestern State hit 52% of their three-pointers against Centenary, but only 29% against SMU. If the Demons shoot better than BYU they’ll hang around and have a chance to win late.
  • Win the Boards – The Cougars will have a decided height advantage against the Demons, and they have to use it. BYU struggled to rebound in the first half against UVU, and it allowed the Wolverines to play even with them before the break.
  • Childs vs. Lane – BYU’s go-to big man will likely spend a lot of time going head-to-head with Northwestern State’s go-to big man, and if Yoeli Childs can outplay Ishmael Lane it will be nearly impossible for the Demons to keep pace.

BYU let UVU hang around for too long on Friday night, and if they don’t cast out the Demons earlier in this game it could come back to haunt them.

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