BYU vs. Texas in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic

Game Notes: BYU vs. Texas

BYU heads to Kansas City for the College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 25 and 26, at the Sprint Center. The Cougars will face Texas on Monday at 6:30 p.m. CT and then either Wichita State or DePaul on Tuesday. Monday's game will be televised live on ESPNU and broadcast live on the Cougar IMG Sports Network on KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.

BYU Cougars (4-1, 0-0 WCC)

• Head Coach: Dave Rose
• Alma Mater: Houston, 1983
• Career Record: 213-67 (9th)
• Record at BYU: Same

Texas (4-0, 0-0 Big 12)

• Head Coach: Rick Barnes
• Alma Mater: Lenoir-Rhyne, 1977
• Division I Career Record: 564-289 (27th)
• Record at Texas: 362-155 (16th)

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 3-2
• Last Meeting: Texas won 96-57, 12/2/78
• H/A/N: 2-0/0-2/1-0

Game Information

• TV: ESPNU
• TV Talent: Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Sean Farnham (analyst)
• Live Video: WatchESPN.com
• Radio: Cougar IMG Sports Network, KSL 102.7 FM / 1160 AM, BYU Radio - Sirius XM 143
• Radio Talent: Greg Wrubell (play-by-play), Mark Durrant (analyst)
• Live Audio/Stats: BYUcougars.com

BYU storylines

• When BYU takes on Texas on Monday, Nov. 25, in Kansas City at the Sprint Center the Cougars will be looking to avenge their first loss of the season, a 90-88 home setback to No. 21 Iowa State. BYU is 24-4 in regular season tournaments under Rose, including 2-0 this season with wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Colorado Mesa in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
• In the other matchup at the CBE on Nov. 25, DePaul will play Wichita State. The two losing teams will play the next day at 6:30 p.m. CT and the winning teams will play for the championship at 9 p.m. CT.

  Dave Rose

BYU head coach Dave Rose has led BYU to its most successful eight-year run since taking over in 2005. His career record of 213-67 ranks him second in BYU history in total victories and first in winning percentage (.761). Rose has been named conference coach of the year three times, district coach of the year twice, led the Cougars to four conference titles, six NCAA Tournament appearances, two NIT appearances, six 25-win seasons and eight 20-win seasons. In 2010, he led BYU to its first NCAA Tournament win in 17 years and the Cougars have also won at least one postseason game in the three seasons since, including a spot in the Sweet 16 in 2011 and a trip to the NIT semifinals in 2013.

National media taking notice

BYU basketball has received a lot of positive attention in the early going, especially from the national media. ESPN.com’s Jeff Goodman recently ranked the nation’s top 10 freshman and has BYU big man Eric Mika at No. 9. 

Goodman on Mika: ‘The Utah native entered the program with plenty of hype, and has already begun to live up to it.’ Goodman quotes an NBA executive who said: “He’s athletic, tough, runs the court well for their fast-paced offense and is a strong enough body to bang already. He’s got a decent post-up game against the right matchup. He plays really hard and physical -- which is rare for a freshman big man.”

Bruce Pearl, also of ESPN.com, created a list of the top 10 most underrated teams. He has the Cougars at No. 9. He says BYU has ‘one of the quickest and most potent offenses in the country. BYU’s speed is relentless, it shoots more than 50 percent as a team and has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.’ Pearl adds that ‘Kyle Collinsworth ... reminds me of a bigger Michael Carter-Williams (rookie with the Philadelphia 76ers).’

Return of Kyle Collinsworth

The 2013-14 season marks the return of sophomore guard Kyle Collinsworth, who spent the last two years serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Russia. As a freshman in 2010-11 he averaged 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting .481 from the field. Collinsworth started 27 games on a BYU team that won a team record 32 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Collinsworth is averaging 12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.8 steals through five games.

Record streaks

The Cougars will be looking to keep several program-record streaks intact during 2013-14. Coming into the season,  Dave Rose has led the Cougars to eight-straight 20-win seasons and eight-straight postseason appearances, eight-straight seasons with 10-plus conference victories and four-straight seasons with a postseason victory.

Nonconference schedule

BYU’s nonconference slate includes three in-state games, matchups with Big 12 and Pac-12 foes and trips to Kansas City and Springfield, Mass. In all, the Cougars will play six home games, three road games and four neutral site games during the nonconference season. After opening the season at home with Weber State, BYU will play at Pac-12 foe Stanford in the opener of the sixth-annual ESPN Tip-Off Marathon. The Cougars will also play in the College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic with two games at home and two in Kansas City against Texas and either DePaul or Wichita State. BYU will also host Iowa State, North Texas and Prairie View A&M, play Utah State at EnergySolutions Arena, vs. UMass in Springfield, Mass., and at Utah and Oregon.

BYU’s newcomers

This season’s roster includes five newcomers – three freshmen, a junior college transfer and an NCAA Division I transfer. The freshmen are Frank Bartley IV from Baton Rouge, La., Eric Mika from Alpine, Utah, and Luke Worthington from Mequon, Wis. Skyler Halford comes to BYU from Salt Lake Community College and Chase Fischer is a transfer from Wake Forest.

• Bartley prepped last season at Future College Prep in California last season and averaged 19.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.0 blocks while leading his team to the West Coast Prep title.
• Mika earned third-team All-America honors last season while leading Lone Peak to the MaxPreps.com national title and the 5A Utah state title. He averaged 16.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.
• Worthington averaged 13.6 points and 10.0 rebounds while leading Homestead High School to a 13-7 record. He was named first-team All-North Shore Conference and all-state honorable mention.
• Halford was a first-team NJCAA All-American and averaged 17.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals at SLCC. He led SLCC to the SWAC and Region 18 titles.
• Fischer played two season at Wake Forest after a successful prep career at Ripley High in Ripley, W.Va. He averaged 4.5 points and 1.1 rebounds and shot .422 from three last season.