The Heart of College Hoops: BYU vs. Utah State

7:00 PM MST

Utah State Aggies at Brigham Young Cougars

Marriott Center, Provo, Utah.

Utah State hails from the Western Athletic Conference. They are 18-6 on the season, 9-5 in WAC play,    7-2 on the road and currently on a one game winning streak.

BYU is 19-8 on the season, 9-4 in WCC play, 14-2 at home and currently on a one game winning streak.

TV: BYUtv.

Radio: KSL 1160 AM & 102.7 FM along the Wasatch Front.

Satellite Radio: BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.

Online: Live video from BYUtv Sports, live audio from KSL.

There's a very good reason this non-conference match-up is taking place just as we approach the home stretch of conference play. Utah State was going through it's last practice in Logan before heading south to Provo when forward Danny Berger collapsed on the court. Aggies' trainer Mike Williams quickly used a defibrillator on Berger, saving his life.

Instead of doing some sort of overly masculine gesture and saying "the game must go on", both programs decided it was in the best interest of all involved to postpone the game. The focus was put on Berger and his recovery, rightly so, instead of the rivalry game. That is exactly what should happen when a situation like this comes about. Unfortunately, it's not always the case, especially in the higher levels of sports. 

Only a few days before this game was postponed there was a similar but far less serious incident in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs decided it was in the best interest of their aging star players to have them sit out the last game of a six game road trip. The game in question was against the defending champion Miami Heat. The NBA fined the Spurs $250,000 for keeping their star players off the court in the much hyped, big money making opportunity of a game.

That comparison is just one of many reasons why I like the college game more than the NBA game. At the heart of that comparison though is the main reason why I like the college game the most. The players, their health and well-being, are paramount in college. In the pros, everything takes a back seat to the almighty dollar. Kudos to both BYU and Utah State for being such good role models in this situation.

Berger is on the road to a full recovery and is eyeing a return to the hardwood next season. His recovery has been slow and deliberate. He now has a defibrillator implanted in his chest. The new addition in his body has changed his ability to use his left arm. That means no hanging on the rim after a dunk. He is traveling to Provo today with the Aggies but will not play.

Back when these two squads were set to meet on December 5th things were much different. Utah State was 4-1, it's only loss coming against Saint Mary's. Aside from the loss of Berger, the Aggies were running at full strength. They looked on track to rebound from a disappointing 21 win season (their lowest win total since 1998-99, head coach Stew Morrill's first season). The Aggies would run out to a 14-1 record before a January 17th game at New Mexico State (also the Aggies). In that game against the other Aggies two star players went down with injuries. Forward Kyisean Reed (12.1ppg, 6.5rpg) went down with a season ending ACL injury, shrinking an already depleted (sans Berger) front court for the Aggies. Even worse, the player I pegged as the Aggies key to this game, starting junior guard and team leader Preston Medlin (team leading 16.3ppg) suffered a wrist injury. Medlin's injury wasn't season ending, but he won't be back for this game. Since those two injuries the Aggies have gone from 14-1 to 18-6, they've suffered through a four game losing streak and fallen out of contention in the WAC.

The question for tonight is how will the depleted Aggies match up with the displeasing Cougars? BYU has played a much tougher schedule but has dropped games (San Diego/San Francisco), at full strength, to teams on the level of those that have defeated the post-injury Aggies (Denver/Texas-Arlington). The Cougars are the better team talent wise and on paper, but they've been in that position all year long and have struggled to prove that point on the court. 

Also of note in this game is that it's a non-conference game. If BYU wins this game and both Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary's wins their bracket busters match ups the WCC will have a non-conference win percentage of .664. The WCC is currently the highest non-BCS conference other than the Mountain West in terms of non-conference win percentage. I wrote about this last time there was a non-conference game with a WCC team. Read the in-depth analysis here.

After the game one of these two squads will have another tick in the loss column. In the true spirit of college athletics however both emerge winners thanks to their deft and honorable handling of a truly unfortunate situation.