PROVO — It's hard to take a compliment after incurring a tough overtime loss at home, but Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett dealt out a good one BYU's way after his team escaped with a 74-64 overtime win on Saturday.
"It's weird. I think they have less talent this year, but they're better," Bennett said. "BYU coach) Dave (Rose) knows his team better than me, but I just know they're grittier this year."
The Cougars showed little grit going against Saint Mary's last season. After taking an 81-68 loss to the Gaels on the road, things got progressively worse in the form of a 70-57 loss that wasn't as close as the score would indicate at home and then an 81-50 thumping in the West Coast Conference tournament.