Anson Winder shoots over Gonzaga's David Stockton during the win at the Marriott Center. (Photo by Ari Davis)
With the thrilling victory against Gonzaga last Thursday and Saturday's redemption against Portland, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi projects BYU as a 12-seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
The team's inconsistency has led many to doubt, but in response to a question posed on Twitter, Lunardi argued Thursday that BYU is a team to watch. 'BYU ... seems to be getting no credit for winning at Stanford and for beating Texas on a neutral floor,' he said. 'Now Thursday night they host Gonzaga. If they win that game they'll hold the spot.'
SB Nation contributor Chris Dobbertean also considers the Cougars' vital win against Gonzaga as a factor that will play into their being considered as an entrant.
Coach Dave Rose explains that the overall performance of the team continues to improve this season.'I’m really happy for the guys, and I think that the performance this weekend was great, and they are coming off with some really big wins,” Rose said. “Sometimes you say to your team, ‘That’s really solid,’ or, ‘That’s a really good job,’ but with this thing we played well, and I think we found a lot more to our team.” Rose's comment is backed up by numbers.
The Cougars' stats are at an increase, which is inspiring a heated topic of whether Matt Carlino, WCC's Player of the Week, or Anson Winder should play as starting guard. Carlino finished last week with an average of 22.5 points while Winder impressed spectators with an average 18 points.