The BYU men’s basketball team looks to make a quick turnaround as it returns to the Marriott Center to play the San Francisco Dons on Saturday night.
In the previous meeting against the Dons, BYU was down nine points at halftime but escaped with a narrow 80–76 victory. The Cougars have trailed at halftime nine times this season and have only won four of those games, but they hope to make a change by being more aggressive.
Tyler Haws emphasized the need to be more aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor following BYU’s loss to San Diego.
“They outhustled us on the boards,” Haws said. “We’ve got to get meaner inside …there were a lot of loose balls that we should have had. We’ve got to be aggressive on both ends of the floor. We can’t trade baskets and expect to win. It’s something we have to improve on … our team’s got to get more intense on defense.”
The Dons’ guard Cody Doolin and forward Cole Dickerson are players to watch, as they both scored 22 points a piece against BYU on Jan. 5.
The Cougars have six games remaining to prove their worth in the NCAA tournament and must go into each game with a “must-win” mentality.
BYU is now 18–7 overall and 8–3 in the WCC while San Francisco stands on a 10–13 overall record and is 3–7 in conference play.
Tip-off will be on Saturday at 7 p.m. MST at the Marriott Center with a live broadcast on BYUtv.
