By Tyler Webb
The BYU men”s basketball team travels to Logan, Cache County on Saturday night to renew its rivalry with the Utah State Aggies.
The Cougars look to rebound from their first loss of the season on Wednesday night and get back on a winning streak.
“We are going to have to prepare really well over the next few days to win this game,” said forward Travis Hansen.
BYU has won the last three meetings between the schools.
Last year, the Aggies blew a six-point lead in the final minutes of the game to lose in the Marriott Center.
The Aggies currently have a 24-game home winning streak. The Cougars were the last team to defeat the Aggies on their home floor, back in 1999.
But that was a different Cougar team.
To win Saturday”s game, the Aggies will have to rely on their strong defense. Over the last two seasons, the Aggies have held opponents to 30 percent shooting.
Last season, USU ranked second in the country in points allowed, with an average of 57 points per game.
The Cougars scored only 58 points in the team”s loss to UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night.
However, BYU has shown glimpses of having its own strong defense.
The team is holding its opponents to 40 percent shooting, while out-rebounding its opponents by nearly 11 a game.
The Cougars” weakness, however, is the amount of turnovers they have been committing.
The team has averaged 18 turnovers a game, while forcing only 13.
“It is going to take more focus for us to win our games on the road this season,” said sophomore forward Mark Bigelow.
Bigelow also said everyone on the team could score if they needed to.
The Cougars got minimal scoring Wednesday night from their “big three” players: Eric Nielsen, Travis Hansen and Bigelow. The three players scored a combined 32 points.
To pull out a road win in Logan, the Cougars are going to need more solid play from the bench.
In Wednesday”s loss, Daniel Bobik was the only player off the bench to score, chipping in four points.
The Aggies are led in scoring by forward Desmond Penigar. Penigar has averaged over 20 points a game in the Aggies” three victories this season.
The team is confident of its ability to perform well against Utah State.
“We”ll be all right if we play hard and play with a lot of intensity,” Hansen said.
