BYU loss not all bad

Brigham Young coach Dave Rose probably won't admit it publicly, but a 73-63 loss to No. 1-ranked North Carolina wasn't such a bad thing for the Cougars.

BYU came up second-best Saturday in the championship game of the Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena, but losing to the Tar Heels (5-0) might bode well for the Cougars in March.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee acknowledges there is such a thing as a "good loss." If BYU fails to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament and winds up at the mercy of the committee as an at-large team, Saturday's loss -- and Friday's 78-76 win over No. 6 Louisville -- will look mighty good on the Cougars' resume.

"As a coach, you don't want your team thinking that far ahead," Rose said. "But in the grand scheme of things, this was a big weekend for our program. Still, we're disappointed because we had a chance to win tonight."

Not only does a win over a top-10 team on a neutral court earn the Cougars points with the committee, it will bolster the team's Ratings Percentage Index, one of the criterion used by the committee to evaluate a team's strength of schedule.

It also gives BYU some national exposure, which can only help in recruiting. Finally, it helps the Mountain West's credibility.

For years, conference commissioner Craig Thompson has harped on coaches to play stronger nonconference schedules. And while you're at it, how about beating a few of these powerhouse teams?

BYU did that Friday, and nearly did it again Saturday. It was a one-point game with less than four minutes remaining and the Tar Heels, who played all but two minutes without starting guard Ty Lawson, were desperately trying to hold off the Cougars (5-1).

Lawson turned his right ankle early in the game and didn't return, leaving Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington to pick up the slack offensively.

"Facing the adversity of not shooting well and not having Ty Lawson was big for us and our guys responded well," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "BYU is a big, fundamentally sound team and we knew it would be a challenge."

Hansbrough finished with 24 points and Ellington had 15, but BYU couldn't keep pace down the stretch and was outscored 11-2 in the final four minutes. The Cougars' lone basket came on a Trent Plaisted slam dunk with 23 seconds left. Plaisted finished with 24 points.

"We all want to win. It's the nature of our group," said Plaisted, who also had 17 rebounds. "What's important for us is this isn't the mountain top. We have to keep building on this."

• No. 6 Louisville 64, Old Dominion 53 -- The Cardinals bounced back from Friday's loss to BYU, overcoming a 28-27 halftime deficit.

Terrence Williams had a team-high 20 points as Louisville (4-1) shot 52 percent from the floor in the second half and blanked Brandon Johnson, ODU's high-scoring guard. Gerald Lee led Old Dominion (3-3) with 20 points.

• Hartford 80, South Carolina State 72 -- Jaret Von Rosenberg scored a career-high 31 points as Hartford (3-4) won in overtime. South Carolina State (1-5) committed 22 turnovers.

• Jackson State 74, Iona 70 -- The Gaels (0-6) had 26 turnovers and allowed Grant Maxey to dominate inside for Jackson State. The 6-foot-7-inch forward had 23 points for the Tigers (1-5).