BYU Vs. San Francisco: WCC Tournament Game Preview Plus Score Prediction

LAS VEGAS – Tonight’s BYU/San Francisco tilt is the biggest Quarterfinal matchup the WCC Tournament has ever hosted. Both teams are Quad 1 opponents and each is seeking an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

It has the makings of a “win and you’re in” feel. Now it’s not a guarantee that’s the case, but both teams have pieced together solid resumes that stack up nicely against a relatively weak crop of bubble teams this season.

Saturday night is going to be fun at the @WCCHoops Tournament. #WCChoops #GoCougs #BYU #KSLVegasMayhemhttps://t.co/KVCwPvi1dV pic.twitter.com/K6cj1WBA4s

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 5, 2022

The 5-seed BYU (22-9) defeated Loyola Marymount to get to this game here in Vegas. In contrast, the Dons (23-8) had a two-round bye to the quarterfinals and earned the four-seed in a WCC seeking four-bids into this year’s March Madness.

It’s safe to say there’s a lot on the line for this showdown between two bubbly teams out west.

BYU vs. San Francisco: 2022 WCC Tournament

Tip: 8:30 p.m. (MT)

Location: Orleans Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada)

TV: ESPN2

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM – Pregame begins at 7:30 p.m.)

Season series: Tied 1-1. BYU won at San Francisco on January 15, 71-69. USF defeated BYU in Provo on February 3, 59-73.

Rubber match against USF gives BYU valuable Quad 1 opportunity

Last week, Mark Pope aggressively pursued a potential non-conference game against a Quad 1 team. They didn’t need it as the WCC Tournament seeding broke BYU’s way allowing a path to face a highly-rated NET team in San Francisco before a potential meeting against Gonzaga.

#BYU Fousseyni Traoré on his first postseason experience:

“It’s fun, you know. I’m just here to play and win. We have to win.”#BYUHoops #GoCougs #KSLVegasMayhem pic.twitter.com/Ie5HLtqh1g

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 5, 2022

So this is the game to send BYU back to the NCAA Tournament potentially. Coming into Saturday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi as the first team out of the field of 68. CBS Sports Jerry Palm has BYU comfortably in the field as an 11-seed, avoiding the First Four in Dayton altogether.

BYU has tested itself this season despite being in a mid-major conference. Saturday night’s tilt in Vegas will be the 16th game against a Quad 1/Quad 2 opponent; that’s half of BYU’s schedule this season. BYU is currently 7-8 in those games, with one of the victories coming against San Francisco on the hilltop in January. That was the last win BYU has had against a Quad 1 team.

📍 WCC Tournament 2022#KSLVegasMadness #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/c3bILs6IK9

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 4, 2022

That willingness to play anyone on any venue could be rewarded, even if BYU loses on Saturday night. But Mark Pope and his team don’t want to explore that scenario.

BYU is trending in the right direction

BYU head coach Mark Pope has said he believes his team can play their best basketball in the postseason for the past few weeks. Last month, he referenced that he hopes his group can have a “UCLA moment.” UCLA last season lost four straight games to close out the season before getting into the NCAA Tournament and making a run to the Final Four, with BYU as one of the teams they knocked off in the round of 64.

Let's do it again tomorrow 😤 pic.twitter.com/bxoO8hb5iW

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 5, 2022

After a dominating performance Loyola Marymount, BYU is playing well on both ends of the floor entering tonight’s matchup. Guard Alex Barcello points to the “edge” the team is playing with and Fousseyni Traore continues to flourish as a freshman, not being fazed by the postseason stage.

“I think our guys are in a good place right now,” said BYU’s Mark Pope. “They’re super hungry and they’ve got some fire. And they don’t have a lot of fear right now. I think they’re just hungry. I like where our team feels right now. That’s important for us to have a chance [against San Francisco].”

BYU’s bigs have to play huge

In February’s loss at home to San Francisco, San Francisco dominated BYU on the glass. The Dons outrebounded BYU by eight in the Marriott Center. It was surprising because, despite the personnel hits to their frontcourt, BYU has been an excellent rebounding team this season.

They’ll have to limit the Dons frontcourt led by All-WCC performer Yauhen Massalski and Duke transfer Patrick Tape.

“That’s just one of the many problems that [San Francisco] shows and it’s going to have to be a team effort. And we’re actually good at that. We’re really good at figuring that out as a team,” said Pope. “This Caleb Lohner is going to have to be huge for us tonight. It’s a big-time challenge on the glass and Fouss [Traore] is going to have to be big and Atiki is going to have to be and Gideon George is going to have to really make his presence felt on the boards.”

Lohner had an impressive 10 rebound effort in the win over LMU on Friday night. In January’s victory over San Francisco, he made the game-winning play with an offensive rebound to set up a go-ahead bucket.

Traore is 28 rebounds away from setting the BYU freshman record for most rebounds in a season. Yoeli Childs set the mark in 2016-17 with 272.

What to know about San Francisco

Like BYU, the Dons are doing everything in their power to find a way to get to the NCAA Tournament. San Francisco hasn’t been in the NCAAs since 1998 and head coach Todd Golden wants to capitalize with this senior-laden team by landing a bid in the NCAA Tournament.

Bring on the Cougars.

📰Full Preview: https://t.co/Phwj0BJv0y#USFDons | #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/BYParRXtxZ

— USF Men's Basketball (@USFDonsMBB) March 5, 2022

The Dons go as far as the guard line takes them in Bouyea and Khalil Shabazz. Both guards have had their fair share of big performances on BYU over the years and they would likely love nothing more than to have another big scoring output.

Yauhen Massalski led the West Coast Conference in double-double games in league play with 10. He also led the conference in rebounding during WCC action with 11.06 boards per game and finished second in field goal percentage at 57.1%.

Golden is one of the rising stars in the coaching profession. He could become a popular name in the upcoming coaching carousel this spring.

Probable Starters

No. 5 BYU (22-9)

G – Alex Barcello, 6-2, 192, Sr.

G – Te’Jon Lucas, 6-1, 187, Sr.

F – Gideon George, 6-6, 210, Sr.

F – Caleb Lohner, 6-8, 235, Soph.

F – Fousseyni Traore, 6-6, 254, Fr.

No. 4 San Francisco (23-8)

G – Jamaree Bouyea, 6-2, 180, Sr.

G – Khalil Shabazz, 6-0, 170, Sr.

G – Gabe Stefanini, 6-3, 215, Jr.

F – Yauhen Massalski, 6-9, 240, Sr.

F – Patrick Tape, 6-10, 240, Sr.

BYU vs San Francisco Prediction

This is the type of game that you want from a conference tournament with high stakes, so much familiarity, and NCAA Tournament hopes are on the line. Usually, a game like this would only involve the league’s traditional big three (Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, BYU), it shows the growth and investment by the others.

A win for BYU, in my opinion, would put the Cougars in front of San Francisco in brackets as they would have a better resume over the Dons. I’m calling for BYU to pull the upset because the frontcourt has stepped up in a big way since that underwhelming performance against the Dons last month.

Fousseyni Traore and Caleb Lohner will be the difference in this game and it will put BYU on the right side of the bubble.

Score prediction: BYU 72, San Francisco 71

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 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

Follow @Mitch_Harper