Three days after getting schooled by arguably the best defensive basketball team in the country, No. 14 Houston, coach Kevin Young’s BYU Cougars face the best shooting squad in the nation Tuesday as Texas Tech visits the Marriott Center for a 7 p.m. Big 12 clash.
“BYU has a dynamic offense and great size and length at multiple positions. They also have great experience. We’re going to be playing against them in one of the greatest atmospheres in the country and have to come out ready to play.”
— Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland on Tuesday's game against BYU
That doesn’t sound like a recipe for a quick recovery, but Young said Monday in a Zoom meeting with reporters that the Cougars (10-3, 1-1) are just eager to get back on the court and “right those wrongs” — and there were a lot of them — from Saturday’s 86-55 walloping.
“I think everybody is just champing at the bit,” Young said. “The best thing about that (31-point loss) is we play tomorrow. … There is no good remedy to a butt-kicking like that, other than being able to go out and compete again. I know every guy in our locker room, regardless of experience, is eager for that opportunity.”
Texas Tech (10-3, 1-1) opened Big 12 play last week by losing at home to UCF — which was crushed 99-48 by No. 11 Kansas on Sunday — then recovered nicely with a 93-65 beatdown of Utah at the Huntsman Center Saturday night.
The Red Raiders are No. 12 in the country in scoring offense, averaging 86.5 points per game, and are shooting the nation’s best 51.6% from the field. That doesn’t bode well for a BYU team that was riddled repeatedly by slower-paced Houston.
“I mean, two totally different teams, stylistically, so we will have to have some things dialed in for Texas Tech that weren’t pertinent to Houston,” Young said. “… This will be the best offensive team we have played to date. They got a mix of really good talent, and their coach does a really good job of keeping them organized offensively. They space the floor really well. … There are some unique things that they do that we will have to dial in that aren’t necessarily carried over from the Houston game.”
Young would like more time to prepare for Grant McCasland’s crew, but believes a lot of the necessary preparation took place last week.
Because BYU doesn’t practice on Sundays, due to religious reasons, this will be a recurring theme throughout the Big 12 season — Saturday contests followed by Tuesday games in which the Monday practices become ultra-critical. Only twice in the next two months are the midweek games on Wednesdays — at Arizona State on Feb. 26 and at Iowa State on March 5.
“I would say (Mondays) are more efficient than crazy. A lot of the coaches, myself included, do a lot of prep work on Sunday, at home, watching tape, reviewing film, getting the game plan as sharp as it needs to be so that we can come in and deliver a really efficient message to our group relative to how we want to play,” Young said.
“I think the tricky part is being able to put the previous game to bed, while still preparing for an opponent.
“I think there are always themes in games that carry over to the next opponent. So that is kinda how we are going to use our Mondays, living themes that we feel like will help from a game-to-game standpoint. Put that game to bed and then quickly move on to our next opponent.”
Flushing the Houston loss won’t be easy, as the red-wearing Cougars exposed some weaknesses that hadn’t surfaced in BYU’s dozen previous games, aside from the loose perimeter defense that has enabled opponents to hurt the Cougars from deep. Houston made 16 3-pointers, two more than its previous high.
Of Houston’s Feritta Center, where UH is 101-6 since it opened, Young said the environment didn’t catch them off guard.
“I don’t think it was that hostile. I don’t think that is why they are good there. I just think they are a good basketball team,” Young said.
Now it is Tech’s turn to face a boisterous crowd, perhaps for the first time this season. Saturday’s attendance at the Huntsman Center was announced as 7,798, and the crowd was mostly subdued as the visitors got out to a 47-36 halftime lead and cruised in the last 20 minutes.
“BYU has a dynamic offense and great size and length at multiple positions,” McCasland said. “They also have great experience. We’re going to be playing against them in one of the greatest atmospheres in the country and have to come out ready to play. It will definitely be a challenge but our team is really looking forward to it.”
New Mexico transfer JT Toppin, a 6-9 sophomore from Dallas, averages 18.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game (in nine games) for Texas Tech. Nevada transfer Darrion Williams, a 6-6 junior from Sacramento, averages 16.2 points and 5.6 rebounds and has a team-leading 69 assists.
The Red Raiders shoot 39.7% (126 of 317) from beyond the arc. They are No. 14 in Kenpom.com and No. 20 in the NET Rankings, receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 and are No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. They were picked to finished seventh in the Big 12.
BYU dropped to No. 41 in Kenpom.com and No. 47 in the NET Rankings after the humbling weekend in which BYU wasn’t the only team to get humbled by a conference opponent.
“I think in sports it is very easy to be reactionary,” Young said, mentioning the fact that the ASU team BYU beat by 20 downed Colorado by 20 at home. “We gotta be careful about reacting to certain things. But I am super mindful of everything that we are doing. I am constantly looking at the lineups. Yes, there are definitely things (we are looking at).”
One thing Young tried in the second half vs. Houston was having bigs Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore on the court at the same time.
“The reasons why I did it, quite frankly, didn’t work,” he said. “… I do think we are continuing to learn about our group. Everything is on the table, both in terms of who is starting and who is playing with who and who is playing for how many minutes.”
The coach did add that senior Trevin Knell has been playing well “and needs to play more minutes.”
