With Dalton Nixon Likely Out, BYU Takes On Struggling San Diego

SAN DIEGO, California – It’s hard to measure the impact that senior forward Dalton Nixon has on this year’s BYU basketball team when just looking at box scores. When you look beyond the stats, you’ll see a difference maker on both ends of the floor. Or as head coach Mark Pope would say, “the heart and soul of our team.”

BYU (20-7, 9-3 WCC) gets ready to take on the San Diego Toreros (9-18, 2-10) tonight in a game that will likely be without Nixon who suffered a high ankle sprain in Thursday night’s win against Loyola Marymount.

Nixon’s father and former BYU basketball standout, Kevin Nixon, was on KSL NewsRadio’s Cougar Sports Saturday to provide an update on the possibility of Dalton playing in tonight’s game.

“I don’t see that happening tonight,” Nixon said to KSL Sports. “The hope is that you can recover in a couple of days. But as soon as the game [against LMU] was over and even later into the evening –once he got to the hotel–, it was pretty apparent that it was a pretty significant sprain. So I don’t see him playing tonight.”

Nixon has played in all 27 of BYU’s games this season and started in 16 of those appearances. In his final season with the Cougars, Nixon has averaged career highs in points (7.8), rebounds (4.5), and three-point shooting percentage (37.5%). Along with those improved numbers, Nixon is always on the floor chasing loose balls, attacking the glass on rebounds, and making winning plays on both ends of the court.

Mark Pope on Dalton Nixon during radio post game interview: "We can not lose Dalton. I don't know what our medical crew has to do. But we can't lose him. He is the heart and soul of this team." #BYU #BYUhoops @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 14, 2020

“He makes so many things work on the offensive end of the floor for us where he doesn’t get the credit for the assist or the basket but he made the whole play work,” said Mark Pope in his post game radio interview after defeating LMU on Thursday. “On the defensive end, he causes so many empty possessions for the other team. We just gotta get him better because he’s crucial to what we’re trying to do right now.”

Since Yoeli Childs returned from a finger injury a few weeks ago, Nixon has been coming off the bench as BYU’s sixth man. So the Cougars starting five won’t change without Nixon, but front court players Kolby Lee, Gavin Baxter, and Zac Seljaas will have to shoulder the load without the team’s heart and soul.

How long Nixon will be out is still up in the air, but the Cougars will need to take care of business without Nixon in America’s Finest City.

BYU at San Diego – What to Watch

BYU has moved up to No. 13 in the KenPom ratings. The highest since 2011, where the Cougars finished that season No. 12 in Pomeroy’s final ratings. BYU is No. 5 in Pomeroy’s offensive efficiency ratings while the San Diego is currently at 326th and one of the worst offenses in college basketball.

In the last meeting between these two teams, BYU rolled to a 23-point victory over the struggling Toreros who have lost five of their last six, with the lone win coming against Portland in that stretch.

San Diego senior forward Braun Hartfield is the player to watch for the Toreros. He had 21 points in the meeting in Provo last month, and can get hot in a hurry out on the wing.

Best three-point shooting team in America

BYU currently sits at No. 1 in the country in three-point field goal percentage at 42.8 percent per game and is No. 2 three-point field goals made with 10.9 per game.

BYU at San Diego

Tip: 8 p.m. (MST)

TV: CBS Sports Network

Radio: KSL NewsRadio 102.7 FM, 1160 AM

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.