I think the keys to the game for BYU, in order of importance, are: (1) taking care of the ball, (2) breaking press and run outs by scoring on penetration and in the low post (especially early), and (3) rebounding.

On paper, Alabama and BYU are very similar. They both shoot the 3 ball really well (35% Bama, 37% BYU), both teams shoot 48% from the field, and they both like to push the pace in transition and score off turnovers. But the similarities don't stop there, both are very efficient offensively, both teams turn the ball over at about the same rate, and they both distribute a ton of minutes to bench players using 10-11 man rotations. Alabama is actually the first team I can remember facing all season that allocates more minutes to its bench players than BYU. This means BYU won't have its advantage of fresher legs late in the game and neither team is as likely to have their rotations disrupted by players being in foul trouble.

In terms of the differences, Alabama averages about 10 more points a game than BYU. Given the shooting percentages, the point differential arises from two sources. First, they play an even faster pace than BYU so some of that scoring is from shooting similar percentages over more possessions. If BYU's shooting percentages play out as they have been, then this will simply result in more points by both teams. The other reason 'Bama scores more points will matter more. Alabama takes more free throws a game and converts them at a higher rate than BYU. The more free throws could simply be a difference in style of officiating between the SEC and the B12 officials (B12 officials let teams play through contact more than any I have ever seen), but the shooting percentages from the FT line definitely favors Alabama. BYU does a better job of rim protecting averaging 4.5 blocks per game compared to Alabama's 3.0 (thank you Keita) and that differential would be higher if BYU played the same number of possessions.

Both teams are capable of getting hot and going on huge runs to punish the opponent for mistakes. Alabama beat tournament team Mississippi State late in the season by 38 points, BYU beat tournament team Kansas late in the season by 34 points. The season averages suggest Alabama will win this game in a relatively close matchup because of better rebounding and FT shooting, but the game will not be decided by season averages. BYU has been better than its season averages in most categories the last ten games and Alabama may feel more pressure to win as a higher seed. So this is a 50-50 game in my view and I'm hopeful that BYU can win its way into the Elite 8 tonight.