BYU is 2-0 and up to #7 in the AP Poll after week one wins over Villanova and Holy Cross. BYU hosts Delaware Tuesday night before heading to Boston for a clash versus #3 UConn.
Tuesday’s game against Delaware is at 7pm MT on CBSSN.
BYU and Delaware by the Numbers
Delaware KenPom: 234
Delaware record: 0-2; 78-70 loss at Bucknell, 71-62 loss vs Wilmington DE (D2)
BYU KenPom: 16
BYU record: 1-0; 71-66 win vs Villanova, 98-53 win vs Holy Cross
KenPom Prediction: BYU 93, Delaware 67 — BYU 99% win probability
Point Spread: BYU -33.5
Point Total: 163.5
Delaware Overview
Delaware is in its first season transitioning from the Colonial to Conference USA and were picked 11 out of 12 teams in the Preseason CUSA Poll.
The Blue Hens had a rough first week of the season. After losing on the road to Bucknell, Delaware lost at home to D2 Wilmington DE. Delaware was missing 5 scholarship players, including their best player Cavan Reilly, but losing to a D2 squad is a tough way to start off the year.
Reilly received CUSA Preseason Honors after averaging 12.4 ppg on 35% shooting from distance. The 6-foot-4 guard struggled in the season opener, scoring just 3 points on 1-8 shooting in the opener. Reilly was Delaware’s third-leading scorer last season and is expected to be the top option this season.
Last season, Delaware was top 50 in tempo and had a solid offense but were terrible defensively. The Blue Hens were a great shooting team but were awful in virtually every defensive metric.
Delaware had a solid portal haul, although health for them versus BYU is a question. Wing Justyn Fernandez averaged 3.6 ppg at Providence last year and was expected to start, but he’s missed the first two games. 6-foot-9 big man Nnanna Njoku played sparingly in four years at Villanova and is expected to factor into the rotation at the five, but he too missed the first two games.
One bright spot has been sophomore forward Macon Emory. The 6-foot-8 stretch four has put up a double double in both games, averaging 12 points and 12 boards.
Prediction
BYU should win this game comfortably, but Delaware’s health situation will dictate by how much. Delaware has missed key players both games, and if they are close to 5 scholarship players out once again — many of whom are key players — this will look a lot like the Holy Cross game. If Cavan Reilly and some of their transfer players return then this should be more competitive than Saturday’s game. Holy Cross is 100+ spots better than Holy Cross in KenPom, which assumes they Delaware is playing close to full strength.
Even if Delaware is healthy, they don’t have the horses to hang with BYU. The Cougars are so much longer and more athletic than Delaware and BYU should feast in the paint. Heading into the UConn game, I would like to see BYU find more consistency from the outside. BYU shot 6-15 from three versus Holy Cross in the second half after a 1-10 start, and it would be great to be around 40% for the game so BYU can gain a bit of confidence going to Boston. I want to see Idaho transfer Tyler Mrus knock down a couple threes and Rob Wright hit his first triple of the season. Mrus hit 73 triples for Idaho last season and is 0-3 through two games while Wright is 0-5 to start the season. Mrus is still getting his legs under him after being limited the last few weeks of the offseason with an injury.
This score will vary depending on who is healthy for Delaware, but I’ll pick BYU to cover regardless.
Prediction: BYU 96, Delaware 61
