A pair of teams hoping to move up in the West Coast Conference standings will square off on Thursday night when Santa Clara hosts BYU. The Cougars bounced back from a narrow loss to then-No. 8 Gonzaga with a 91-81 win against Pepperdine on Saturday. Santa Clara followed a similar pattern, responding from a loss to Gonzaga with a 92-81 win at Pacific.
BYU struggled at times during non-conference play, losing five of its first 10 games. The Cougars responded to that slow start with a seven-game winning streak that included a win against Utah. They have split their four games since then, but one of those losses came on the road against LMU and the other one came by a single point against No. 8 Gonzaga. BYU was a 6.5-point home underdog against the Bulldogs in a game that came down to the wire. The Cougars bounced back from that loss with a 91-81 win against Pepperdine, barely failing to cover the 10.5-point spread on Saturday.
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— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 17, 2023
They have been an inconsistent team offensively, as turnover issues and poor outside shooting have held them back. BYU ranks No. 343 nationally in turnover rate, while its 3-point percentage (31.7) is No. 277. The Cougars’ strength has been in the paint, where they are No. 93 in 2-point percentage (52.4) and No. 87 in offensive rebounding rate. They are going to be at a slight height disadvantage on Thursday. BYU is facing a Santa Clara defense that is No. 100 in adjusted efficiency. Sophomore forward Fousseyni Traore leads the Cougars with 12.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while Gideon George (12.0), Rudi Williams (11.5) and Spencer Johnson (11.4) are all scoring in double digits as well.