PROVO — The BYU Cougars didn’t get to host the first half of this week’s in-state basketball battles when their midweek battle with Utah State was postponed.
Tonight’s battle with rival Utah will provide plenty of juice for the Cougars.
The two schools meet for the 253rd time, a 7 p.m. matchup at the Marriott Center. BYU (5-3) last played at Iowa State, a loss they would rather forget about.
Utah, meanwhile, enjoyed a 76-55 win over Boise State at the Huntsman Center.
Jarred DuBois scored 18 points for the Utes, whileJason Washburn added 13 points. Many Utah players will be getting their first Marriott Center experience.
BYU is a perfect 4-0 on its home court this season. The Cougars are led by Brandon Davies and Tyler Haws.
• USU’S BERGER HOPES TO PLAY AGAIN; AGGIES HOST W. OREGON: A Utah State basketball player who nearly died after collapsing during practice Tuesday is expected to be able play again.
Danny Berger collapsed during practice in Logan and fell into cardiac arrest. The team’s trainer revived him using a defibrillator.
Doctors have inserted a small defibrillator underneath Berger’s skin in his chest that would kick into action and restart his heart if it stops again. His left arm will remain in a sling for three weeks because of the defibrillator. After that, doctors say he should be cleared to play again.
“If I everything goes right, it seems like I’ll have a full recovery,” the 22-year-old Berger said Friday during a press conference.
Berger will be released from the hospital today and plans to go to Utah State’s game against Western Oregon at the Smith Spectrum.
• MAJERUS REMEMBERED: Hundreds of people turned out at Chaifetz Pavilion on the SLU campus Friday to honor former Billikens and Utah Utes basketball coach Rick Majerus who died Dec. 1 of heart failure at the age of 64.
He was remembered fondly, with speakers describing him as funny but passionate, exacting but caring, and a coaching genius who got the best out of his players both on and off the court.
Large photographs near the front showed the rotund coach surrounded by young men a foot taller, working the sidelines, seated on a stool patiently teaching attentive players. Dozens of plays drawn up by Majerus, scribbled in marker on white paper, encircled the room, a practice gym where Majerus spent countless hours passing on his basketball knowledge.
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