BYU men's basketball team focused on the present but excited about future


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PROVO — Coming off two consecutive home victories, the BYU men's basketball team wants to make a statement tonight against the nationally-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels in front of what should be a hostile Marriott Center crowd.

"Take it day by day, like coach says, stay in the present," said Elijah Bryant who appeared as the weekly player guest on the Rose Show at Malawis pizza.

Bryant, a 6-foot-4 guard, hails from Gwinnett, Georgia. The transfer student from Elon University has sat out the season due to transfer rules but made it clear on the show that the focus of the team right now is the task at hand.

Tonight the Gaels of Saint Mary's come to Provo for their first game outside the state of California this season. For the Cougars, the task won't be easy since the Gaels lead the nation in field-goal percentage and have caused problems for BYU in the past. "They cause a lot of problems with the pick-and-roll, and the efficiency they get from the guard spot," Rose said.

Fortunately for the Cougars, players' confidence is peaking at the right time. Coming off the bench, Corbin Kaufusi and Jakob Hartsock both made significant contributions in wins against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine last week. "He is playing with a lot of energy, and just his focus is so much better," said Rose of Kaufusi, who in BYU's last two outings has scored 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting while adding an impressive 10 of 13 from the free-throw line.

"Someone needs to beat them," said Rose about the 18-2 Gaels. "It's more than just a physical challenge, it's a mental challenge, because they believe they're going to win." Rose spoke several times about the mentality the Cougars will need to have in order to come out of the weekend with two more home victories. Playing to their teams' strengths of scoring and rebounding are essential but the current state of the team is what Rose called the group's biggest strength. He called it "camaraderie" saying, "The nights where we assist the ball well, are our best nights."

Improving and playing together more as a team have been major factors in what Rose says has really helped rally the team, something that may help the Cougars win the mental battle against Saint Mary's. "There's a lot going on in our game preparation and our practices, our guys are really locked in, and I like where they're at," said Rose.

Bryant, who won't be taking the court, still has his work cut out for him to help his teammates prepare. As a member of the scout team Bryant takes the role of opposing players in practice to help his teammates prepare for who they're going to face. "When I go to practice I go as hard as I can, to make it easier for my teammates when the game comes," said Bryant. Although Bryant admits at times it is difficult to not think ahead to the time he will spend playing for BYU, he tries to take everything day-by-day.

Coach Rose doesn't disagree. "He plays so well every day in practice, Cougar fans are really going to love watching him play someday."

BYU has won 57 of its 70 games played in the month of February during the Dave Rose era. Coach Rose spoke of the team's success in the later months of the season. "Our guys are way more of a team late than they are early, a real compliment to them." It will take the unity and camaraderie Rose spoke of Tuesday to get win 58 tonight in Provo, which would put the Cougars back in contention for a regular-season West Coast Conference championship crown. With a win, the Cougars would improve to 8-3 in conference play and 17-7 on the season, just one game back of the Gaels.

In order to win, Rose talked about how the Cougars will need to get the game going up and down the floor, setting the pace to increase their ability to score in transition. Rose hopes that in doing so they'll be able to slow the rhythm of Saint Mary's and disrupt its halfcourt offense.

Certainly all of the players and coaches are focused on tonight's showdown, but Tuesday night's Rose Show also brought with it a sense of excitement for Cougar fans to come following the departure of senior guards Kyle Collinsworth and Chase Fischer at the end of the season.

Rose spoke of Bryant as a versatile guard, saying he looks forward to his ability to play the point and run their offense. Rose sees Bryant as a great scorer and distributor who could also be a possible low-post threat — something Cougar fans haven't seen much of with their traditionally lanky guard line.

"Its kind of hard not to look in the future and think of the guys who I'm going to get to play with," said Bryant on the Rose Show. Bryant will be teaming up with freshman standout Nick Emery along with T.J. Haws to form what could be the most dynamic backcourt trio ever seen at BYU.

Bryant has the stats and hardware to prove his worth. He led Elon in scoring his freshman year with an average of 14 points per game and was named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year for the 2014-15 season.

The Cougars' future is bright, but so is the present. Two wins this weekend would put them back on track for a possible WCC title and possible NCAA Tournament berth. Cory is a third year student at Brigham Young University studying Communications and an emphasis in Public Relations. His favorite place in the world is LaVell Edwards Stadium and has been a loyal BYU fan his entire life.

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Cory Gill

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