Jimmer Fredette captured the eyes of many with his scoring ability, but sophomore Brandon Davies is what steered BYU to elite status.
Davies 6'9'' 240 pound frame was a problem for many teams that competed against BYU. Davies is athletic, long and can run the court well.
He was one of Fredette's favorite targets starting 26 of 29 games and turned in 11.1 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds.
After meeting with school officials on Monday to confess an honor code violation, Davies was released from the team and could be possibly booted from the school.
BYU's dream season has took an unexpected turn for the worst. Without Davies, it's hard to picture BYU a final four team or a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
"We told him it's OK," Fredette said. "Sometimes in life we make mistakes. We've got to play through it."
After spending one day at No. 3 in the polls, the Cougars suffered a 82-64 loss at home to the New Mexico Lobos (19-11, 7-8) who finished a season sweep of BYU. Without Davies, the spotlight has shifted to Mountain West conference rival San Diego State.
Although, BYU wants everybody to know that it hasn't gone anywhere.
Head coach Dave Rose did give New Mexico a ton of credit for taking it to the Cougars. Coach Rose also said, "we'll regroup," following the blowout loss to New Mexico.
At 13-2 in the Mountain West, a win at home against Wyoming would give the Cougars a share of the conference title. It might also be a chance to show that BYU can win without Davies.
For once this season, the Cougars are considered the underdogs in College Basketball. Their leader Fredette has always had BYU strong and willing to battle against top competition.
Fredette was able to will this team last season before hitting a road block in the NCAA tournament. With more in his arsenal this season, their shouldn't be much holding the senior back.
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