BYU breaks away from WCC play to host USU


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Despite having huge conference games to play over the next week and a half, the BYU Cougars will play outside the WCC on Tuesday night when they host the Utah State Aggies at the Marriott Center.

The game was originally scheduled for December 5th, but due to the near-fatal cardiac arrest suffered by Aggie junior Danny Berger, the game was rescheduled for Tuesday night.

There was a lot of speculation back in December that this game would simply be cancelled. Head coach Dave Rose said the two schools never came close to calling it off.

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It is rare for a team to play a non-conference opponent this late in the season. With a game at St. Mary's on Thursday, and hosting Gonzaga the following week, some wondered if it would be hard to focus on the Aggies. Brandon Davies told the media it won't be a problem to play Utah State; in fact it may help the Cougars down the stretch. "In conference or not, they're a great team, they want to beat us. It kinda gives us a chance to get this thing rolling again and get a couple wins here, and string them out."

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Coach Rose said he will start the same five players (Carlino, Cusick, Haws, Zylstra and Davies) that began the game last Saturday against Portland.

"We'll try and build off some of the momentum we had," Coach Rose said. "I think with the quick turnaround, this is the way to go."

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Regardless of where the game is played, the Cougars and Aggies always seem to play each other close. In fact, the last four meetings (2-2) have been been decided by an average of seven points.

"Everybody gets up for it," Brock Zylstra said. "Most of these players on both teams are from Utah; so they knew each other, they've played with each other growing up...I think they're just ready to play, they're ready to have this one game a year that they can put it all on the line."

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You can listen to post-practice audio from Coach Rose, Brandon Davies and Brock Zylstra by clicking on the links above left in "Cougar Cuts."

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BYU vs. Utah State tips-off Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. MT on KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM/1160 AM) and BYU Radio. Pregame coverage begins at 6:00.

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Photo: Courtesy BYU Photo

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Jason Shepherd

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