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BYU not perfect, but on top
Posted: Wednesday January 12, 2000 03:34 PM
By Phil Miller, Special to CNNSI.com They were picked sixth in the Mountain West, an afterthought in a conference full of rising programs. Their leading scorer left school to fulfill a two-year church mission. They decided their point guard wasn't suited to the job, lost their leading rebounder to an ankle injury for all of fall camp and entered the season with no regular taller than 6-foot-7. Yet just three years removed from their 1-25 train wreck of a season, the Brigham Young Cougars are the surprise of the Mountain West, atop the conference standings at 12-2. And while it is easy to pick out the flaws in BYU's game -- they give up far too many offensive rebounds, commit turnovers in bunches and have only one legitimate post player -- there is no denying that the Cougars are a far greater whole than the sum of their parts. "We're probably a little ahead of where we expected to be, but I'm not going to be unrealistic about what we have accomplished," said Coach Steve Cleveland, who took over after the 1996-97 disaster and delivered seasons of 9-21 and 12-16. "I didn't look at the season and think we're one of the top two or three teams in the conference. I'm not sure we are. We knew it would be a five-year process to get this program where it needs to be, and nothing has changed that." What has changed is the winning. BYU owns victories over Arizona State, Weber State and UNLV, and was within four points of Arizona with 13 minutes to play. "I have been proud of their impressive ability to find a way to win games," Cleveland said. "It usually comes down to defense and rebounds at the end of close games, and we have been getting some pretty good efforts in that respect." The best effort, however, comes from guard Terrell Lyday, a transfer from Fresno City College who was recruited to fill the hole created when Mark Bigelow left on a Mormon Church mission. The Cougars hoped Lyday could replace at least part of Bigelow's team-high 15 points a game. He has done far more. The explosive, 6-foot-3 guard scored 35 points to help BYU earn an 82-73 win at Utah State, then added 30 more, plus 11 rebounds and six steals, as the Cougars opened their MWC season with a surprising 77-75 upset at UNLV. "He has been phenomenal," said Cleveland. Lyday has taken some of the pressure off of teammates like forward Mekeli Wesley, BYU's only interior scorer who routinely faces double-teams, and guard Michael Vranes, who gave up his point guard duties so he can freelance a little more on offense. The Cougars have only eight players in their rotation, and point guard Matt Montague (Achilles tendonitis) and forward Silester Rivers (bone chips in his ankle) have been hampered by injuries. Still, the Cougars have won 10 of their last 11, with a difficult home test against Utah coming up this weekend. "Our goal was to be a .500 team, win our home games and perhaps reach the postseason," said Cleveland. Amazingly, the first target is now a given; if BYU can reach that second goal, the third one will surely follow, too.
He's no tour guideNot since "The Out of Towners" has an extended trip to an exotic locale been such a nightmare.With school still out for winter break, Rick Majerus took his Utah basketball team to Coronado Island in San Diego Harbor for four days last week. And while the weather was gloriously sunny, the Utes were constantly under a dark storm cloud: their 75-55 humiliation in Louisville on Thursday, the worst regular-season loss in Majerus' 10-year tenure at Utah. With the loss fresh in their minds, the Utes traveled directly to San Diego, then endured a boot camp that the Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton would have appreciated. Nothing but practices, workouts, film sessions and team meetings all weekend. "The past three days have been really rough for all of us," said junior center Nate Althoff. "It really taught us to be ready for everything." It paid off on Monday, when Utah cruised to a by-the-numbers rout of San Diego State, 70-55, behind Althoff's career-high 20 points (on 8-of-8 shooting).
Channel surfingBill Bayno tried watching on television, but the Runnin' Rebels coach decided he just had to be at the Thomas & Mack Center when his team came off the court Monday night.Bayno, suspended for UNLV's 77-75 loss to BYU because he skipped a mandatory league coaches' meeting in October, watched the telecast at his home near campus, but with the game tied and four minutes remaining, he had had enough. He grabbed his coat and car keys and headed for the arena. Arriving just as fill-in coach Glynn Cyprien called a timeout with 13 seconds left to set up the Rebels' final shot, a three-pointer by freshman Dalron Johnson that bounced off the front of the rim, Bayno stood near UNLV's locker room and listened for the roar of the crowd that would tell him his team had won without him. It never came. "This was awful, something I never want to go through again," Bayno said. "Now I know what a parent goes through watching his kid play. There's nothing you can do to help them, except be there for them when they win or lose."
Waiting for an invitationThe Mountain West Conference may be awarded an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament as soon as next season, according to Commissioner Craig Thompson.The NCAA's Management Council discussed legislation last weekend to change the rule that requires new conferences to wait five seasons before being considered for an automatic berth. Conferences such as the Mountain West -- seven of whose eight members have been affiliated together since 1981 -- would not have to wait for consideration under the new proposal, Thompson said. No decision was announced, but Thompson is hopeful that the NCAA board of directors will vote on the proposal in April, so the Mountain West could be awarded an automatic bid for 2001. "I'm optimistic that this will get done pretty quickly," Thompson said. Coincidentally, Thompson is chairman of the 10-member men's basketball tournament selection committee this year, though he said MWC fans should not expect him to lobby for special consideration for conference teams seeking at-large berths. "No, that just does not happen. You don't campaign, you don't trade votes," said Thompson, who will leave the meeting room when votes are taken on Mountain West at-large hopefuls. "I believe strongly in the integrity of the committee."
Worth notingColorado State will tour France for 11 days next August and play seven games against local teams. The preseason tour is similar to one that BYU took to England, Bosnia and Italy late last summer, a trip that Cleveland credits for helping his team start quickly this season. ... Steve McClain took his Wyoming team to his former home state, but the Cowboys missed 22 of their 27 three-point shots and fell to Wichita State, 80-71. Sophomore guard Chris McMillian scored 18 points, but missed all nine of his treys. McClain coached at nearby Hutchinson Community College in the early 1990s, where he often faced current Wichita State coach Randy Smithson, who headed Butler County Community College. ... Air Force enters conference play having lost three of four games, and it's even uglier than it sounds: The losses were to Central Connecticut State, Wofford and Denver.Phil Miller covers the Mountain West for the Salt Lake City Tribune. Check back every Wednesday for his latest CNNSI.com Insider.
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