BYU Basketball Season in Review

For those who are extremely loyal followers of this blog, you may remember what I'm about to reference. Seriously though, you'd have to have been here from the beginning. This post literally only got four views.

Last April I made the following statement: "In one of Matt Carlino's remaining three years, BYU will earn [a] trip to the Final Four." I even went so far as to say it would likely come in the 2012-2013 season.

Matt Carlino helped lead BYU to an NIT Final Four appearance. 

Well I nailed it.



Right?

Okay, so it wasn't the Final Four that we dream of reaching, but it was a pretty entertaining run to the NIT semifinals. It also turned out to be a nice ending, and maybe the saving grace, for perhaps what will be viewed as a disappointing year.

But 24 wins in a rebuilding year? Some schools can't even dream of a winning record when they rebuild. So was this year a disappointment? Yes and no. Should BYU have been better? Perhaps. Is it disappointing to see an NIT appearance after six consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament? Absolutely. But this team played a postseason game in April, something that no other Cougar team has ever accomplished.

And it's kind of fitting that BYU made a  trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals in the year that saw the 1951 NIT National Championship team honored and retired the jerseys of Mel Hutchins and Roland Minson.

BYU started the season 14-4, losing only to Florida State, NIT finalist Baylor, and NCAA tournament teams Notre Dame and Iowa State.

Then, it appears, one shot changed the course of the entire season.

Haws averaged 21.7 points per game
as a sophomore.

Tyler Haws hit a tough, tie-breaking with 2.5 seconds remaining. The Marriott Center erupted, thinking BYU had won the game. Then Matthew Dellavedova ripped the hearts out of all of Cougar Nation when he hit a running 35-foot three at the buzzer.

If you can stomach it, you can watch the final seconds of that game here.

From that Saint Mary's game through the end of the conference tournament, BYU went 7-7. The Cougars were limping so badly into the postseason I wasn't convinced we'd get an invitation to the NIT, let alone a high enough seed to get some games in the Marriott Center.

But they did. BYU was seeded third and hosted a first round game against Washington, a 90-79 victory, and a second round game against Mercer, a 90-71 win. They then went on the road to completely dismantle Southern Mississippi to reach the NIT semifinals.

It was the first time BYU suffered a double-digit number of losses since Dave Rose took over at head coach, and it was the first time since his inaugural year that BYU failed to reach 25 wins and the NCAA tournament. As disappointing as that is, just take a second to think about that. BYU has reached a postseason tournament and 20+ wins each and every year that Dave Rose has been the coach. Cougar fans are truly blessed.

In spite of that, there is a lingering feeling that this squad didn't live up to its potential. Hopes were high for Brandon Davies, Tyler Haws, and Matt Carlino. Fans were expecting junior college transfers Raul Delgado and Agustin Ambrosino to be instant impact players. Stephen Rogers and Chris Collinsworth weren't supposed to have to call it quits due to nagging injuries. Nate Austin and Anson Winder were supposed to be solid contributors, but they also were troubled by injury. And the list goes on.

Brandon Davies finished his BYU career strong,
averaging 17.7 points and 8 rebounds per game

The "Big Three," - Davies, Haws, and Carlino - had a roller coaster year. That was mostly on Carlino's end, but even Davies had swings where he would go from looking like a first round draft pick to a turnover prone big who forced too much. Carlino again flashed potential, just as he did as a freshman, but he was still prone to try and do to much. However, a lot of credit needs to go to him for several clutch performances and shots this year (against Utah and Pepperdine come to mind quickly). It is also worth noting that his current career average of 4.7 assists per game is tied for the all-time lead in BYU history.

Every BYU fan in the world was excited for the return of Tyler Haws, and even with all the excitement and expectations he still managed to exceed them all. Averaging 21.7 points per game he was the unquestioned go-to guy on this roster. He had only one truly poor performance (1 point at Gonzaga). I don't believe anyone was expecting him to be as good as he actually was.

There were some incredibly memorable moments by the players from this up-and-down year: Josh Sharps's monster dunks, Craig Cusick's put-back to beat Utah State just hours after finding out his father had cancer, Tyler Haws dropping 42 on Virginia Tech, Matt Carlino saving the day against Utah, Brandon Davies faking out two defenders with a fake pass, Brock Zylstra lighting up Southern Mississippi,

There is a lot of talent on this team to excite Cougar fans for the future, including a lot of talent in the recruiting well. But take a minute to think about the run of success the Cougars have had in recent years including this supposed disappointing year, and let's thank our seniors - Brandon Davies, Craig Cusick, and Brock Zylstra - for playing a large role in making it happen.