2011–12 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

Before the season

The Cougars, coming off a 2010–11 season that saw them rise as high as #3 in the AP Poll and ended in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, had to recover from major personnel losses. Consensus national player of the year Jimmer Fredette and all-time BYU steals leader Jackson Emery, called BYU's "best backcourt ever" by Salt Lake Tribune writer Jay Drew, both graduated. Another frequent starter, freshman swingman Kyle Collinsworth, temporarily left the team to go on a two-year LDS mission.

In addition to the departing players, assistant Dave Rice left to take the head coaching vacancy at UNLV.

The Cougars were picked to finish third in the WCC by the media.

Recruiting

Gaining size was a key for the 2011 BYU team. In addition to a returning Brandon Davies who would help inside the paint, BYU focused on three centers, two of which are return missionaries who will have their first playing time. The third center, Isaac Nielson, committed to BYU and announced he would serve a church mission before joining the school for the 2013–14 season.

2011 media

The school began to hype the basketball season with basketball media days webcasts shown live on BYUtv.org Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Jarom Jordan interviewed all the players, except for Brandon Davies who chose to abstain from interviews until the regular season begins, from the Marriott Center. Common questions asked to the players were how they chose their numbers, what they expected for the upcoming season, what they thought of the new court, and the West Coast Conference. Additionally the Cougars announced that BYUtv would air a True Blue Basketball Preview special on Thursday, November 10, 2011. All Cougar games will be broadcast on the BYU Radio Sports Network with Greg Wrubell serving as the play-by-play man (unless he is away for football) and Mark Durrant providing analysis. When Wrubell is gone for football, Durrant will serve as the play-by-play man with Russ Larson serving as the analyst. Steve Cleveland will also provide analysis on the radio for select conference games. Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, Steve Cleveland, Robbie Bullough, Jarom Jordan, and Lakia Holmes will provide coverage for BYUtv Sports throughout the season.

The Pre-season WCC poll expects the Cougars to finish 3rd behind Gonzaga and St. Mary's and just ahead of Santa Clara.

BYU Radio Sports Network Affiliates

KSL 102.7 FM and 1160 AM- Flagship Station (Salt Lake City/ Provo, UT and ksl.com)
BYU Radio- Nationwide (Dish Network 980, Sirius XM 143, and byuradio.org)
KTHK- Blackfoot/ Idaho Falls/ Pocatello/ Rexburg, ID
KMGR- Manti, UT
KSUB- Cedar City, UT
KDXU- St. George, UT

Schedule and results

Source

On March 13, 2012, BYU set a record for the largest comeback in a NCAA tournament game, as they were down by 25 points at one point in their first match of the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and came back to beat the Iona Gaels 78–72.

Cougar tipoff

Broadcasters: Jarom Jordan and Steve Cleveland

Exhibition: Midwestern State

Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough

Exhibition: Dixie State

Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough

at Utah State

BYU leads series 136-91
Broadcasters: Mychal Clanton and Brooks Hansen

BYU-Hawaiʻi

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Jarom Jordan and Steve Cleveland

Longwood

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland

Prairie View A&M

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough

vs. Nevada

BYU leads series 12-6
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland

vs. Wisconsin

Wisconsin leads series 1-0
Broadcasters: Brian Anderson and Eddie Johnson

vs. Northern Arizona

Northern Arizona leads series 1-0
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland

vs. Oregon

Oregon leads series 12-8
Broadcasters: Roxy Bernstein and Miles Simon

Weber State

BYU leads series 26-10
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Lakia Holmes

at Utah

BYU leads series 127-125
Broadcasters: Barry Tompkins and Reggie Theus

Baylor

BYU leads series 5-2
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough (Steve Cleveland Halftime and Postgame)

Buffalo

BYU leads series 1-0
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough

UC Santa Barbara

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough

Cal State- San Marcos

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough

at Saint Mary's

BYU leads series 8-2
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham

San Diego

BYU leads series 2-0
Broadcasters: Jarom Jordan, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough

at Loyola Marymount

Loyola Marymount leads series 2-1
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Blaine Fowler

San Francisco

Series tied 5-5
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough (Steve Cleveland Halftime and Postgame Show)

Santa Clara

BYU leads series 15-5
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham

at San Diego

BYU leads series 3-0
Broadcasters: Steve Quis and Jim Brogan (Blaine Fowler and Steve Cleveland Halftime)

Loyola Marymount

Series even 2-2
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler, and Robbie Bullough

at Pepperdine

Series even 4-4
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland (Jamie Zaninovich Halftime)

at Virginia Tech

BYU leads series 1-0
Broadcasters: Walter Storhlot and Steven Binder

Saint Mary's

BYU leads series 8-3
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham (Jarom Jordan, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough Postgame)

Gonzaga

Series even 1-1
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham (Blaine Fowler, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough Postgame)

at Portland

BYU leads series 4-1
Broadcasters: Dave McCann and Steve Cleveland

Pepperdine

BYU leads series 5-4
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough

at San Francisco

BYU leads series 6-5
Broadcasters: Mark Neely and Miles Simon

at Santa Clara

BYU leads series 16-5
Broadcasters: Mark Neely and Miles Simon

at Gonzaga

BYU leads series 2-1
Broadcasters: Brent Musburger and Sean Farnham

Portland

BYU leads series 5-1
Broadcasters: Dave McCann, Steve Cleveland, and Robbie Bullough

WCC Tournament: vs. San Diego

BYU leads series 4-0
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham

WCC Tournament: vs. Gonzaga

Series even 2-2
Broadcasters: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham

NCAA Tournament First Four: vs. Iona

First series meeting
Broadcasters: Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr, and Tracy Wolfson

NCAA Tournament 2nd Round: vs. Marquette

Series even 2-2
Broadcasters: Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery, and Lesley Visser