BYU hoops found success at 'Marriott East' in Denver. Can Cougars do it again on neutral site?

PROVO — For a moment, the home of the Denver Nuggets felt like "Marriott Center East."

During a media timeout in the NCAA Tournament, when No. 17 BYU men's basketball held off Wisconsin 91-89, the Badgers' band started trumpeting the fight song. Not to be outdone, a group of Cougar fans in the corner of Ball Arena — a significant chunk of the 19,386 fans in attendance — started chanting: B-Y-U! B-Y-U! B-Y-U!

Eventually, what felt like the whole arena erupted, and at least as much to drown out the musical instruments near the front. Cougar Nation was alive and well in the Mile High City — and the team could feel it.

The last time BYU advanced to the Sweet 16, Jimmer Fredette led the Cougars through what was then called the Pepsi Center and into the regional semifinal en route to winning Naismith Player of the Year honors and being drafted 10th overall by the Sacramento Kings.

Is there something special about Denver, or something magical about the Mile High City?

The magic lies in BYU's fan base, including a group that made the 482-mile drive from Provo to Denver — including football standouts and basketball junkies Parker Kingston and Raider Damuni — with a group that included Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, former BYU star Danny Ainge, former BYU quarterback and NFL tight end Taysom Hill, and national champion coach Diljeet Taylor, to name a few.

Even the aforementioned Fredette — now mostly retired after 36 years, which included an NBA career, and an Olympic berth with Team USA 3x3 basketball — was there with his wife, Whitney, as they raise their three children.

The team felt every one and then some, said Trevin Knell from a celebratory postgame locker room. And as the Cougars fly cross country to Newark, New Jersey, to face second-seeded Alabama (27-8), they may need it again.

"We need Cougar Nation to pull up again, to New Jersey," Knell said. "It's a little bit of a longer drive, and might have to take an airplane. ... But I promise you, we feed off these guys' energy. It really helps us."

The Crimson Tide are a different beast, with five double-digit scorers led by Mark Sears (18.6 points, 5.03 assists per game) and Grant Nelson (11.6 points, 7.5 rebounds per game).

Sixth-year head coach Nate Oats has the perennial football power in the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season — a program-first — a year after advancing to Alabama's first-ever Final Four.

The Cougars, meanwhile, are playing with house money.

Picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 a year after Mark Pope left for his dream job at his alma mater Kentucky, BYU rode league Most Improved player Richie Saunders to a fourth-place in the conference before joining its former coach in the Sweet 16 along with fellow first-year head coaches Dusty May (Michigan) and John Calipari (Arkansas).

A year ago, none of the four programs won a game in the NCAA Tournament. Now, they're looking for a spot in the Elite Eight — somewhere BYU hasn't been since well before the field expanded to 64 in 1994.

And after the magic at Mile High, BYU is simply trying to take it all in.

"When the buzzer sounded, I tried to take it in as much as I could. You don't get to re-live this moment," Knell said. "It's once in a lifetime. I immediately found Egor, who is my guy; we're roommates and have gravitated towards each other since Day 1.

"I embraced Trey, because Trey's been through so much. I wish people understood how much he's gone through. I'm so proud of the way he's been able to stick through it, and using his platform to help other people — and use his talents to help us win games."

Tipoff Thursday is scheduled for 5:09 p.m. MDT on CBS.

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