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BYU Basketball: How the Cougars can pull off the upset over Mississippi State

By Shaun Gordon

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 05: Jock Landale #34 of the Saint Mary's Gaels is guarded by Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament 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: Jock Landale #34 of the Saint Mary's Gaels is guarded by Yoeli Childs #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars during a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament 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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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Dalton Nixon
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Dalton Nixon /

Help from the Supporting Cast

It’s a common adage in basketball that stars will play well whether at home or on the road, but the role players will struggle away from their comfort zone.

Against San Diego State last week Zac Seljaas and Dalton Nixon were complete no-shows offensively.

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The week before against UNLV the bench scored a grand total of 12 points, and nine of those came from Nick Emery. Against Illinois State earlier this year the bench could only manage to contribute 15 points.

You can pencil Yoeli Childs and TJ Haws in for double-digit scoring nearly every night, and Jashire Hardnett will reach that milestone most nights as well.

Aside from that, though, the rest of the Cougars have been wildly inconsistent offensively. It’s not like BYU needs the rest of the team to go off for 50 bench points per night, but if they can’t even reach 20 the Cougars are going to be in deep trouble.

Mississippi State will focus on slowing down Childs and Haws, daring the rest of the team to beat them. That strategy has worked often this season when the Cougars take on good team. It won’t be monster games from Haws and Childs that beat the Bulldogs. It will be solid contributions by the rest of the team on offense that will give them a chance for the upset.

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