A matchup between two of the teams in the middle of the Big 12 takes place on Tuesday when the #21 BYU Cougars (16-5, 4-4 Big 12) travel to take on the Oklahoma Sooners (16-6, 4-5 Big 12). BYU just won on the road at West Virginia 86-73, covering as 7.5-point road favorites. Oklahoma is coming off a road loss to UCF 74-63, going down as 1.5-point favorites. This is the only conference matchup between these teams this season, and they did not meet last season as BYU was not yet in the Big 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 EST from the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
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BYU is currently in a stretch of six straight conference games against unranked opponents. This would not be very surprising for most conferences, but the Big 12 is the top league in the nation. The Big 12 has the most teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament according to Bracketology, and currently have six teams ranked in the AP Top 25. In their last game, they were led by forward Fousseyni Traore with 24 points and nine rebounds in the win over West Virginia.
Count 'em??
all 12 of @DallinHHall assists vs West Virginia pic.twitter.com/IEV0os6ttC
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 6, 2024
The Cougars' top two scorers are also the best shooters on the team, both Jaxon Robinson and Trevin Knell have 51 made threes on the season to lead the team. Robinson is their leading scorer as a 6'7 senior guard with 13.8 PPG. Robinson has reached double figures in his last three games, including a 17 point game in a win over Texas. Knell is a 6'5 junior wing, he scores 11.8 PPG and grabs 4.0 RPG. Knell has been quiet lately as he has not reached 10 points in his last four games. BYU has five more scorers averaging between 9.0 and 11.2 PPG. Spencer Johnson is the top scorer of the bunch at 11.2 PPG, he is another 6'5 wing adding 5.5 RPG and 3.5 APG in his senior season. Noah Waterman is a 6'11, 220-pound senior leading the team in rebounds with 6.0 while adding another 10.6 PPG.
BYU is currently ranked 9th overall according to KenPom. They also rank 9th in offensive efficiency while ranking 23rd in defensive efficie ncy. The Cougars play at the 113th fastest tempo in college basketball. BYU is currently projected to be a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament according to Bracketology.
Injury Report:
Questionable: C Aly Khalifa (5.8 PPG) – illness