A long, frustrating week for the BYU basketball program, which saw the postponement of three consecutive games and attempts to plan other games, led to the extreme challenge.
On Tuesday, the Cougars (9-2, 0-0) filled the gap on the schedule for Thursday – they had a clash with the best team in the country.
BYU, who have not played since Dec. 23, visit Gonzaga, No. 1, Thursday (18:30 MST, ESPN). This will open the opening of the Cougars’ West Coast Conference.
The game against the Zags this week (10-0, 1-0) is a rescheduling of the February 6 meeting and not an additional game. What will happen to the match on February 6 has yet to be determined.
“If all else fails, the one coach and program in America you know is, ‘Bring it, man, we’re not scared,’ is the Zags, ‘coach Mark Pope said in his coaching performance on BYUtv. Tuesday night. “I could not love them anymore, just because they are like, ‘Let’s play.’ We really want to play and they want to play. ”
The WCC, BYU, Gonzaga (10-0) and ESPN worked together to adjust the schedule. BYU would originally be presented in the Pacific on Thursday, while the Zags would play in Santa Clara on Thursday.
Both the Pacific and Santa Clara were interrupted due to COVID-19 problems. About half of the programs in the WCC have been interrupted.
Last weekend, four of five league games were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. This has led to talks between coaches and league officials, Pope said.
“I think we have made some progress in how we are progressing as a conference. I’m incredibly optimistic about it. … All the coaches started a conversation. I’ve been talking to half of the coaches in the league for the past 48 hours to work things out. This is how it will work for the rest of the year. ”
The Cougars have not played since December 23, an 87-79 victory over Weber State. BYU is saying goodbye on Saturday. Their next game is January 14 in Saint Mary’s.
A lot of effort was put into getting a game played on Thursday.
“It was a crazy scramble. “When we realized that we had lost these two games this past weekend and this week, I really believe that we can not just expect to postpone these games and get them back, ‘said Pope. “What we have done is a massive dialogue with the league and coaches around the league. We spoke to a total of 20 teams, some of whom missed matches because their opponent was quiet outside our league, and every team that could possibly play in our league. Once we found out that our game was canceled on Friday, we called a few other teams, but it just did not work. Every day, several times a day, try to find teams to play. ”
Pope and his team are undoubtedly happy to have a game this week.
‘I’m very grateful to the Zags. I say that now, ‘said the coach. “We’ll see how I feel on Thursday night after the game. I can not say enough good things about it. ”
In the latest meeting between BYU and Gonzaga on February 22 last year in Provo in the final season for both teams, the Cougars no. 23 Gonzaga defeated 91-78 in front of a selling crowd in the Marriott Center.
The Zags have a 14-game winning streak, a 44-game home win and a 22-game WCC home game.