Hartsock expects to start for Cougars

When Brigham Young tips off against San Diego tonight in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament at Orleans Arena, the Cougars hope to have the league's leading scorer in the lineup.

Forward Noah Hartsock practiced lightly this week despite a sprained left knee and a gimpy left ankle, and he expects to make his 97th career start for BYU in the 8 p.m. game that will be televised on ESPNU (Cable 320).

Hartsock tops the WCC in scoring with 16.8 points a game. He is also the Cougars' second-leading rebounder at 5.3 per game and is third on the school's career blocked shots list with 170.

The 6-foot-8-inch senior from Bartlesville, Okla., sprained the knee during BYU's victory at Santa Clara on Feb. 18. He played just seven minutes at Gonzaga on Feb. 23 and missed Saturday's regular-season finale against Portland.

Hartsock is the Cougars' emotional leader and holds a special place in the heart of his coach. He was the first recruit to sign to play for Dave Rose in 2005.

"Noah signed here before we ever coached a game," Rose said. "He put a lot of faith in us and what we thought we could do here."

■ LIFE AFTER JIMMER -- Rose wasn't named WCC Coach of the Year this season, but he could have been, especially considering that he replaced his two senior guards from last year's Sweet 16 team with two freshmen.

Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery capped their careers as the most productive guard tandem in school history. Last season, they combined for 1,530 points, 258 rebounds, 257 assists and 150 steals as the Cougars finished 32-5.

Freshmen Matt Carlino, a transfer from UCLA, and Bishop Gorman High School product Anson Winder combined for only 408 points, 116 rebounds, 152 assists and 63 steals this season, but the two guards quietly led BYU to a 24-7 record.

With a win tonight, the Cougars will join Kansas as the only Division I programs with an active streak of six consecutive seasons of 25 or more wins.

"They are a talented team," said Fredette, now playing for the Sacramento Kings. "I knew they were going to be even though I left, Jackson left and some senior leadership left. They wanted to show everybody that it wasn't just (Jackson and me) last year. It was a whole team effort. They have done a great job."

Senior guard Charles Abouo agrees, and actually expected this team to win more than it has.

"I'm not surprised at all," he said. "We let a few games get away from us."

■ ORLEANS OK -- Hartsock doesn't hold back his feelings about playing the conference tournament at Orleans Arena, as opposed to the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I'm excited that we don't have to play on UNLV's home court," he said.

As a member of the Mountain West Conference, BYU lost tournament championship games to UNLV at the Thomas & Mack in 2000, '07 and '08. The Rebels also beat the Cougars in the 2010 semifinals.

BYU is no stranger to Orleans Arena. The Cougars upset No. 6 Louisville 78-76 in the 2007 Las Vegas Invitational before losing to No. 1 North Carolina the following night, 73-63. BYU returned to the arena in 2009, defeating UNR 110-104 and Nebraska 88-66 to claim the Las Vegas Classic championship.

■ WINDER RETURNS -- Winder, a redshirt freshman, is back at Orleans Arena for the first time since his days as a standout for Bishop Gorman. Winder helped the Gaels win back-to-back Class 4A state titles in 2009 and 2010.

Winder will make is 14th start tonight for the Cougars. He averages 4.5 points.

■ PRESSURE TO WIN -- Despite a 24-6 record, the BYU women's basketball team is feeling pressure to win the WCC tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament -- especially after what happened last season.

The Cougars won the Mountain West regular-season title with a 15-1 record, but a loss in the tournament semifinals kept them out of the NCAAs.

This year, BYU is the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament and plays the winner of today's San Diego-Portland game in Saturday's semifinals. The game will be shown at 2:30 p.m. on BYUtv (Cable 352).

■ WEST COAST HONORS -- Hartsock and junior Brandon Davies were named to the All-WCC team. Carlino was named to the All-WCC freshman team.

Kirsten Riley topped the women's awards with Player of the Year honors. Senior guard Haley Steed was also named to the all-conference team. Lexi Eaton was named co-newcomer of the year with Gonzaga's Haiden Palmer.

Dave McCann is a morning news anchor on KLAS-TV (Channel 8). He hosts "True Blue" at 5 p.m. Monday on BYUtv and is the play-by-play voice for BYUtv. He can be reached at dmccann@8newsnow.com and on Twitter: @davemccann8.