By Malik Grady – OGGOA Columnist

In October 2005, the Villanova Wildcats received depressing news. Forward Curtis Sumpter, who had torn his ACL that April, had reinjured himself and would likely miss the entire upcoming season. At the time, head coach Jay Wright made the unconventional decision not to replace Sumpter with a forward; instead he decided to use a four-guard lineup as his team’s base set rather than just a change of pace.

Villanova began the year ranked No. 4, lost only three regular season games and advanced to the Elite Eight, losing to the eventual champion Florida Gators.

In a bit of a parallel, BYU Cougars head coach Dave Rose has also chosen to take a somewhat unconventional route to replace suspended sophomore F Brandon Davies. Blessed with a senior backcourt of all-time BYU steals leader Jackson Emery and All-American Jimmer Fredette, Rose has chosen to the duo play all 40 minutes while going with four guards and 6’8” F Noah Hartsock to round out the starting five.

The players who have seen their minutes increase the most in Davies’ absence have been the guards and wing players rather than the two taller players on the roster: 6’8” Stephen Rogers and 6’10” James Anderson. It’s interesting to compare the Cougars’ rotation and bench compared with their Sweet 16 opponent Gators, especially when you look at how the minutes have been distributed over the last seven games:

[EXPAND Click to expand the rest of the column.]FLORIDA (minutes per game)

5’8” G Erving Walker (32.5) – 6’2” G Scottie Wilbekin (17.1)

6’2” G Kenny Boynton (32.5) – 6’6” G/F Casey Prather (6.7)

6’9” F Chandler Parsons (33.7) – 6’7” F Will Yeguete (7.1)

6’8” F Alex Tyus (24.4) – 6’9” F Erik Murphy (11.1)

6’10” C Vernon Macklin (24.3) – 6’9” F/C Patric Young (17.9)

BYU (minutes per game – season)

6’3” G Jackson Emery (32.5) – 6’0” G Nick Martineau (4.8)

6’2” G Jimmer Fredette (35.5) – 6’6” G/F Brock Zylstra (4.8)

6’6” G Kyle Collinsworth (25.4) – 6’6” F Logan Magnusson (11.4)

6’5” G/F Charles Abouo (20.7) – 6’8” F Stephen Rogers (10.0)

6’8” F Noah Hartsock (29.4) – 6’10” F/C James Anderson (7.8)

BYU (minutes per game – since suspension)

Fredette (38.7, + 3.2) – Emery (35.4, +2.9)

Hartsock (30.9, +1.4) – Collinsworth (30.1, +4.7)

Abouo (27.7, +7.0) – Magnusson (15.7, +4.3)

Rogers (8.3, -3.1) – Anderson (8.7, -0.9)

Zylstra (3.7, -1.1) -Martineau (1.5, -3.3)

The Sweet 16 match-up between the Cougars and Gators may come down to which team blinks first. Florida has three players that normally play double-figure minutes off the bench. Since Davies’ departure, BYU has only one that does so: Magnusson.

If the young men from Provo are able to maintain the top-10 national offensive efficiency and top-20 tempo going with the 6’5” Abouo and 6’6” Collinsworth, they may force UF head coach Billy Donovan to go with a smaller lineup. Conversely, if the comparatively huge front line of Florida (starters and reserves) are able to punish BYU’s smaller lineup, Rose may be have to play Rogers and Anderson more than he’d like.

The other question that immediately comes to mind is whether Emery and Fredette can continue to play effectively without being substituted. Considering their conditioning playing in high altitude, there should not be any doubt they can do so physically. No, the question is whether the 5’8” Walker and 6’2” Boynton can manage to cause any foul trouble for the BYU backcourt at all.

Fredette is notoriously uninterested in playing defense (managing, for example, to escape without being called for a single foul vs. Gonzaga), but Emery’s reputation as a defensive standout will at least be tested by the often unpredictable decisions of Walker in the lane and on the break.[/EXPAND]