BYU basketball: Cougars hope for fast rebound
PROVO — With a bye this week before returning to action on Saturday against Air Force, the BYU Cougars will use the five off days to regroup from the blowout loss to UNLV over the weekend.
"Every single conference game is going to be a challenge for us," guard Jimmer Fredette said. "We try to live in the moment and worry about the game ahead."
Coach Dave Rose hopes his guys will learn from the disappointing 88-74 loss to the Rebels, a game in which UNLV led at one point by 29, but also keep the humbling defeat in perspective.
"We'll just focus on the things we do well and get our confidence back," Rose said of the week ahead.
The Cougars are reminding themselves it's not uncommon in college basketball, when two good teams meet, for one squad to play well and the other not. It's happened to several ranked teams over the past few weeks.
"Sometimes that happens. It happens to a lot of teams," Fredette said.
The key is to rebound from the defeat by knowing a loss by 14 points is no different in the standings than a loss by one point.
"It's about understanding and the learning process that we take from this," senior forward Jonathan Tavernari said.
The Cougars (22-3, 7-2) are now tied with UNLV and New Mexico atop the Mountain West Conference standings. The Rebels and Lobos meet on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
"Each one of us reacts to a loss differently, but we're still in first place in the conference and we can't forget that," Tavernari said. "And we can't forget that we're still one of the best teams in the conference . . . we have seven more games to go, we're tied for first place and we still control our own destiny."
Certainly, BYU got UNLV's best on Saturday. The Rebels entered the game making 31 percent of their 3-point shots. Against the Cougars, however, they made 9-of-13 threes in the first half alone and hit 12-of-23 for the game, a clip of 52 percent.
The 12 3-pointers were also a season-high for the Rebels, as were the 56 first-half points. The Rebels also had 24 assists, another season high.
The Cougars, however, did outscore UNLV by 15 points over the final 25 minutes, and that's the positive number they're taking from the frustrating defeat.
"I've got a lot of confidence in this group, and it's one game, so we'll move forward," Rose said.
STILL GETTING RESPECT: Despite Saturday's ugly loss in Las Vegas, the Cougars dropped only five spots in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today men's basketball polls.
