BYU NewsNet - Cougars Look to Put Away Underdog Rams

As the Colorado State men’s basketball team proudly watched their No. 9 seed, 0-16 sisters upend the No. 1 seed, 16-0 Utah Utes on Wednesday afternoon, anyone could see the almost impossible hope rise in their eyes.

Except for perhaps the Rams’ most optimistic family members, few counted on the luckless CSU teams to be present for the quarterfinals roll call. However, both the men’s and women’s teams have earned a chip in the big game, and not a moment too soon, after finally shedding their winless league records.

If the women’s success is any bellwether of things to come in the men’s bracket, BYU may have to redo a bit of homework in preparation for their Las Vegas debut today. After beating Wyoming 68-63 in Wednesday’s play-in game, the Colorado State men’s team will now be joining the No. 1 seed Cougars on the Thomas & Mack Center hardwood today at 1 p.m. MT.

“I was about 75 percent expecting Wyoming,” BYU’s Lee Cummard said. “A lot of credit to Colorado State and the fight they’ve got in them.”

One has to wonder whether the Cougar staff considered the struggling Rams’ chances as anything more than an amusing possibility. BYU coach Dave Rose said he’s been equally prepared for both potential opponents.

“We knew the outcome of the [CSU] game before [Wednesday’s] practice started and went through some of their sets,” Cummard said.

The Rams ousted the Cowboys essentially without 7-foot post powers Stuart Creason and Ronnie Aguilar, the former now out for the season with a foot injury, and the latter contributing just five minutes due to recent foot problems of his own. The question, then, is how did the outsized Rams get the Cowboys to knuckle?

“Obviously that creates a mismatch,” BYU guard Sam Burgess said. “We’ve got a great post player in Trent Plaisted, so that’s their challenge, to be able to guard him, and most likely they’re going to have to put two guys on him.”

With Creason and Aguilar on the pine, Flynn Clayman, 6-foot-9, and Andre McFarland, 6-foot-6, are the tallest drinks of water the Rams have left. Clayman chalked up eight points, seven rebounds, and three blocks against the Cowboys, and McFarland added another 18 points and five rebounds.

The operative difference today is that Wyoming’s offense hinged primarily on speedy 6-foot-2 guard Brandon Ewing and 6-foot-1 guard Brad Jones, while the Cougar offense orbits around 6-foot-11 Plaisted. Though Ewing stole away with 29 points Wednesday, he didn’t have any high-scoring big men backing him up.

Consequently, the Rams held the Cowboys to 35.7 percent shooting, but can they do the same with 6-11 Plaisted and 6-11 Chris Miles tag-teaming in the paint? To further complicate matters for Colorado State, BYU’s scoring load is split fairly evenly among big man Plaisted and medium-sized Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari, who can do damage from just about anywhere they please.

Fans can watch today’s game on the Mtn.