2009-10 Opponent Preview: Southern

As the 2009-10 season men’s basketball season approaches, BYUCougars.com continues to preview each of the Cougars’ opponents. Today’s preview—Southern.

Game Preview

BYU and Southern will play for the first time in the history of the series on Nov. 24 in Provo. The Cougars will have played in Hawaii four days prior and it will be the third home game of the season for BYU.

Season Outlook

Head coach Rob Spivery enters his fifth season at the helm and is 46-76, including 8-23 in 2008-09. The Jaguars were 8-23 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, good enough for a fifth-place finish. Spivery led Southern to a regular season league title in 2005-06 with a 15-3 league record and 20-13 overall.

Spivery returns an experienced squad including five players who started at least 11 games in 2008-09. Senior guard Steffon Wiley averaged 9.7 points and 3.3 boards while leading the team in steals with 38 despite missing seven games. Barry Honore’ also returns after averaging 8.8 points and 4.5 boards while adding a team-best 22 blocked shots. Spivery’s most difficult task will be replacing Chris Davis, who led the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game.

Player to Watch

Steffon Wiley, G, Sr., 6-1, 185

Wiley returns for his senior season to lead the Jags after averaging 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 2008-09. He will be counted on to pick up the scoring slack left by Chris Davis, who led the team with 14.8 points per game.

Other Key Players

Barry Honore’, F

Douglas Scott, F

Desmond Griffin, G/F

Game Implications

The Cougars are 61-3 at the Marriot Center in four seasons under Dave Rose. BYU will be returning from playing at Hawaii the weekend before. Southern was 2-13 on the road in 2008-09.

Jags at a Glance

2008-09 Team Stats

Returning Stat Leaders