Can Oregon repeat vs. BYU?
Three months later, Brigham Young can finally take some positives from its crushing overtime loss at Oregon.
“We know we can play with them,” BYU guard Tyler Haws said Wednesday.
The 10th-seeded Cougars (2311) will get the chance to prove that today when they face seventh-seeded Oregon in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
BYU played a brutal non-conference schedule, losing close games to Iowa State, Wichita State and Massachusetts before going to Eugene.
“Definitely it stung a little bit. Definitely,” Haws said. “(But) we know their guys. We know the stuff they run. So it should give us confidence that we can go out and win.”
BYU’s challenge is greater after losing Kyle Collinsworth to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the West Coast Conference tournament final. Though Haws leads BYU’s offense, averaging 23.4 points a game, Collinsworth was the Cougars’ go-to guy. Firstteam all-WCC, he led the team in rebounding (8.1 a game) and assists (4.6) and was second in scoring (14.0 points).
“He was versatile for them,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said.
BYU takes confidence in knowing the guy tasked with filling in for Collinsworth, Matt Carlino, was a starter for the first half of the season. His numbers (13.7 points, 4.3 assists) are comparable to Collinsworth’s.
Because Oregon is so fast and athletic — the Ducks seem to re- semble an octopus with all those long limbs — Carlino’s biggest challenge will be getting the ball to his teammates quickly.
But the Cougars will need big games from everybody if they want to avoid a repeat of that heartbreaker in December.
“You can’t replace a guy like Kyle; he does so much for our team,” Haws said. “But I think our guys are ready to step up.”
And the Ducks have no doubt they will.
“I’m sure they’ll miss (Collinsworth),” Altman said. “But I’m sure there are a lot of guys sitting over there anxious to get an opportunity. They’ll be anxious to get in there and show everybody what they can do.”