Glad to see natural rivals finally in the same conference again.
Most statistical analysis has the game basically a tossup with BYU getting a point or two edge at home:
In conference games:
Cougars: 6-4,
averaging 75.9 points,
29.9 rebounds,
16.4 assists,
7.4 steals
2.7 blocks
shooting 48.3% from the field.
opponents 71.0 points per game.
BYU at home in conference
Cougars: 4-1
averaging 80.2 points though one overtime skews high,
35.4 rebounds,
15.8 assists,
5 steals
2.2 blocks
shooting xxx from the field.
opponents 67.6 points per game.
Wildcats: 9-1,
averaging 79.7 points
34.6 rebounds
16.7 assists
8.1 steals
5.2 blocks per game
shooting 46.4%
opponents have averaged 71.2 points.
Wildcats on the road in conference 4-1 also one overtime which they too won
averaging xxx points,
38.8 rebounds,
12.6 assists,
12.6 steals
shooting 2s 49.0%
3s 32.8%
opponents 69.2 points per game.
BYU looks to be favored by more than the 1 or 2 I see on the stat sites. Assuming they do average at home and the Wildcats do their average on the road…
Evan Miya says BYU does better than stats would indicate against weak teams and conversely worse than expected against good teams…
AZ is the best team by the metrics BYU will have played…though Tech is close…
BYU and Tech were close until BYU wilted at the end. I expect we will see if BYU really has gotten tough enough to win at the end against a good team.