1970–71 BYU Cougars men's basketball team

The 1970–71 BYU Cougars men's basketball team represented Brigham Young University in the 1970–71 college basketball season. This was head coach Stan Watts's 22nd season at BYU. The Cougars finished the regular season with a record of 18–11, 10–4 in the Western Athletic Conference.

1970–71 BYU Cougars men's basketball
WAC Regular season champion
NCAA Tournament
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	18-11 (10-4 WAC)
Head coach	Stan Watts
Home arena	Smith Fieldhouse

1970-71 WAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
BYU	10	–	4		.714			18	–	11		.621
UTEP	9	–	5		.643			15	–	10		.600
Utah	9	–	5		.643			15	–	11		.577
Arizona State	8	–	6		.571			16	–	10		.615
Colorado State	7	–	7		.500			15	–	10		.600
Wyoming	6	–	8		.429			10	–	15		.400
New Mexico	4	–	10		.286			14	–	12		.538
Arizona	3	–	11		.214			10	–	16		.385
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1970–71 BYU Cougars men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 42 Clyde Baker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Ogden, Utah C 55 Jay Bunker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Escondido, California C 11 Kresimir Cosic 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Zadar, Yugoslavia G 32 Bernie Fryer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Port Angeles, Washington F 44 Craig Jorgensen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Pocatello, Idaho G 24 Steve Kelly 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Grand Junction, Colo G 22 Jim Miller 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Las Vegas, Nevada F 33 Kalevi Sarkalahti 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Helsinki, Finland F 40 Phil Tollestrup 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Raymond Alta., Canada	Head coach Stan Watts Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
December 4*		Stanford	W 70–62	1–0	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
December 5*		Stanford	W 85–64	2–0	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
December 7*		No. 15 New Mexico State	W 86–75	3–0	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
December 11*		at No. 9 USC	L 65–101	3–1	L.A. Sports Arena  Los Angeles, California
December 12*		at Oregon State	L 80–99	3–2	Gill Coliseum  Corvallis, Oregon
December 14*		at Seattle	L 80–99	3–3	KeyArena  Seattle, Washington
December 16*		Denver	W 100–72	4–3	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
December 19*		No. 15 Utah State	W 111–83	5–3	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
December 22*		at Santa Clara	W 68–67	6–3
December 26*		vs. No. 13 Villanova Rainbow Classic	W 102–93	7–3	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
December 27*		at Hawaii Rainbow Classic	L 90–94	7–4	Neal S. Blaisdell Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
January 8		at New Mexico	W 72–62	8–4 (1–0)	University Arena  Albuquerque, NM
January 9		at UTEP	L 64–66	8–5 (1–1)	Memorial Gym  El Paso, Texas
January 15		Colorado State	W 75–73	9–5 (2–1)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
January 16		Wyoming	W 82–68	10–5 (3–1)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
January 23*		at Utah State	L 70–72	10–6 (3–1)	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
January 28		at Arizona State	L 86–87	10–7 (3–2)	Sun Devil Gymnasium  Tempe, Arizona
January 30		at Arizona	L 76–81	10–8 (3–3)	Bear Down Gym  Tucson, Arizona
February 6		Utah	W 103–89	11–8 (4–3)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
February 11		UTEP	W 75–48	12–8 (5–3)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
February 13		New Mexico	W 70–68	13–8 (6–3)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
February 19		at Wyoming	L 72–78	13–9 (6–4)	War Memorial Fieldhouse  Laramie, Wyoming
February 20		at Colorado State	W 98–92	14–9 (7–4)	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, Colorado
February 26		Arizona	W 95–83	15–9 (8–4)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
February 27		Arizona State	W 83–74	16–9 (9–4)	Smith Fieldhouse  Provo, Utah
March 6		at Utah	W 98–87	17–9 (10–4)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
March 13		vs. Utah State NCAA Tournament • First Round	W 91–82	18–9 (10–4)	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum  Logan, Utah
March 18		vs. UCLA NCAA Tournament • Semifinal	L 73–91	18–10 (10–4)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
March 20		vs. Pacific NCAA Tournament • Third Place	L 81–84	18–11 (10–4)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
7	113	Steve Kelly	Detroit Pistons