Three-Man Weave: At The Halfway Point

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

BYU opened their West Coast Conference slate with a dominating win over Loyola Marymount last night, getting the final and most crucial portion of their schedule underway with a bang.  The Cougars have just 16 regular season games left and a hefty amount of work left to do to earn themselves an NCAA tournament bid.

As such, we decided this would be as a good a time as any to bring back one of my favorite Post-Jimmer features — the Three-Man Weave, in which three commentators from throughout Cougar Nation will offer their opinions and analysis on three BYU basketball-related issues for your reading pleasure. For today's installment, I am fortunate to be joined by Ben Wagner, sports director for BYU Radio and a Post-Jimmer contributor, and Scott Gower, whom you Twitter-inclined folks may know as @cougaracity.

Now, without further ado...

Recap: BYU 92, Loyola Marymount 51

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.

Behind their most impressive all-around performance of the season, BYU repeatedly bludgeoned Loyola Marymount right up until the final buzzer sounded on Thursday night, walking away with a dominating 41-point win in their first game of West Coast Conference play, 92-51.

It all just worked for the Cougars in this one — the offense finally started clicking on all cylinders, shots started falling for once, and the boys in home whites cranked up the defensive heat, holding the Lions to a paltry 30.8 percent from the floor. It was as in-sync and functional as I've seen the team this year, and the performance was made even more special because of the opponent.

Loyola Marymount isn't the Little Sisters of the Poor. This a good program — one that beat BYU by 14 points at the Marriott Center in their last meeting. (Think the Cougars remembered that one?) They were essentially the same team this year, with nearly all of their key personnel returning. So this wasn't the Cougars beating up on yet another cream puff D-II team.

Recap: BYU 97, Virginia Tech 71

Photo Credit: BYU Photo

Somewhere in Salt Lake City, Tyler Haws is probably still hitting jump shots.

The BYU sophomore exploded for a career-high 42 points on Saturday, leading his team to a big 97-71 win over hapless Virginia Tech at EnergySolutions Arena. Haws started fast, dropping 29 points in the first half on 9-for-13 shooting, including six three-pointers. And while he cooled off considerably after halftime, he still found a way to break his father Marty Haws' previous family record of 40 points in a Cougar uniform.

It was a breathtaking offensive display. Haws made virtually everything in that first half — open shots, contested shots, impossible shots. Everything was going in. It was almost enough to make a fan harken back to the days of Jimmer. Almost. But lest we forget, Haws is only a sophomore. He has plenty of time to turn in a few more of these performances and etch his own name in BYU lore.

Pre-Game Primer: BYU vs. Virginia Tech

EnergySolutions Arena

Salt Lake City, Utah

Time: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. MST

TV: ESPNU

What To Watch For:

Wherefore Art Thou, Raul? Junior college transfer Raul Delgado arrived in Provo with a lot of fanfare, highly touted as a shooter and perimeter defender. However, in the early portion of the season, it appeared that many of those skills had been lost in his transition to the faster, more physical Division I game. As a result, Delgado rarely got off the bench. But then a few games ago, searching for any answer to shake up his team's relatively poor string of performances, coach Dave Rose decided to give him a chance — and Raul has made that decision look pretty smart. After a slow start, the newcomer has posted impressive performances in his last two games, scoring 7 and 11 points, respectively. He has done it by shooting efficiently, including a blistering 57 percent from beyond the arc — something this offensively challenged BYU team desperately needs — while also showing flashes of that much-ballyhooed defensive prowess. Will Delgado's hot streak continue? We will find out on Saturday, when his recent spate of performances will almost certainly earn him a good chunk of minutes off the bench. It's up to him to continue proving Rose right.

Recap: BYU 64, Baylor 79

Photo Credit: ESPN

Over the Christmas holiday, the BYU Cougars came out with passion and energy against the Baylor Bears, building a sizable first half cushion. For most of the first half the Cougars looked the stronger side and appeared to be on their way to a quality win for their NCAA tournament resume. But with just a few minutes remaining in the first half, the Bears closed the gap, seizing the momentum which they would never relinquish. Baylor would win the game, a loss which BYU would never totally recover from, making the game a huge turning point in BYU's season.

Also. . . Mommy, please make Brady Heslip stop. *SOBS*

The BYU beatwriters can just copy-and-paste to make their deadlines, as they probably have something similar to this in their columns from the 2011 BYU-Baylor basketball game. The 2012 game wasn't much different.

OK, it was a little different — but the similarities are there.