Of the many coaching decisions Kevin Young has made during his debut season at BYU, none have been more impactful than when he put Mawot Mag into the starting lineup — and another big man took notice.
“It changed things up in a good way,” former Cougar Eric Mika told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “Mag brings a lot of experience. He is a great defender. He is the kind of ‘dawg’ who is willing to bark. He’s barking at the crowd. He’s getting into it with guys after the game. I thought we needed an edge.”
Mag, a 6-foot-7 senior transfer from Rutgers, started against Oklahoma State on Jan. 14 and BYU has gone 11-3 since.
“He is someone who had to wait for his chance a little bit, even though he’s a proven player,” Mika said. “So, he came in with the right chip on his shoulder that was still a benefit for the team. It wasn’t a chip like, ‘Oh, you guys are idiots! You should have been playing me!’ It was, ‘No, this is what I do, and this is how I’m going to do it.’ It set a different tone on defense. I love that move.”
Richie’s rise
While Mag triggered a turning point during the season, the consistent play of junior Richie Saunders has earned Mika’s admiration.
“I think what’s been more cool than surprising is how he has remained a ‘glue guy’ (considering) he still doesn’t have stuff run for him,” Mika said. “He’s not demanding the ball. He’s not upset if he doesn’t have the most points on the team. He’s just doing what it takes to win.”
The Big 12 honored Saunders with back-to-back Player of the Week awards after the No. 23 Cougars swept Arizona State and West Virginia to climb into a fourth-place tie with No. 10 Iowa State. In 18 conference games, Saunders has also ascended to No. 2 in Big 12 scoring (17.8).
“He’s figured it out. The guy has worked super hard for a long time and it’s paying off,” Mika said. “His shot looks great, but he has simplified (his game). He’s like, ‘If I don’t have a shot, I have a rip-one dribble to the rim or that floater that has been automatic. He is the cornerstone of the team.”
Big task Tuesday
Without question, Saunders will be a target of Iowa State’s defense Tuesday night in Ames (7 p.m., ESPN2). At stake is the fourth seed and a double bye to the quarterfinals in next week’s Big 12 tournament.
“No one is expecting (BYU) to win. I think the guys should be ecstatic about that,” said Mika of the Cougars 9.5-point underdog status. “You are on a roll. You and only you know what you truly have. We are all bandwagon fans.
“We are jumping on because we are playing well and have won six in a row. But these guys know even deeper than that of how good they really are and how much they still have to tap into.”
Iowa State averages 80.2 points per game and allows 67.2 on defense. BYU scores 81 and gives up 69.4, which is about as close as a marquee matchup can get.
“This is a battle of styles. They want to slow it down and we want to speed it up,” Mika said. “It always comes down to who makes the other (team) more uncomfortable. What are we doing to speed them up and is it more than what they are doing to slow us down?”
Building around AJ
After watching top recruit AJ Dybantsa interact with his soon-to-be fellow students in the ROC during Saturday night’s game against West Virginia, Mika caught a glimpse into the future.
“I think he’s built for it. The (public relations) for next year is going to be insane and BYU is built for it,” Mika said. “I think it’s going to be Zion-esque where there is so much hype. Just think of Zion’s (Williamson) first dunk at Duke — all his firsts were national news and played a trillion times on ESPN and that’s what we are going to have (with AJ). It’s going to be nuts!”
Mika will be watching the offseason closely to see how Young will build a team around Dybantsa.
“They figured out the formula quickly, which is they need to get old,” Mika said. “That’s where we are right now. We want to get old quickly and we want to pair AJ with guys like Richie and Dallin (Hall). I’m super excited to see who we get in the transfer portal. Who is willing to take a chance on BYU and all the things that come with it, but also (guys) who are not afraid of the moment and spotlight.”
Mika’s memory
Mika played two seasons at BYU that were separated by a two-year church mission to Italy. Before leaving school after his sophomore year to play professionally, the 6-foot-10 center left a lasting impression on two communities — Spokane and Provo.
No. 1 Gonzaga hosted the Cougars in 2017 with the chance to complete its first perfect regular season. Mika and the Cougars had other plans.
“People talk about ‘being in the zone’ and that was one game where I was ‘in the zone,’” Mika said. “I wasn’t thinking about makes or misses. I was playing, having fun and the ball happened to be going in.”
The former Lone Peak High star scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead BYU to a 79-71 upset in front of a packed house.
“It was loud, and I was talking to the crowd the whole time,” said Mika, who made 10 of 14 shots and 9 of 13 free throws. “Their newspapers had already been printed saying they were 30-0. They thought they were going to dog-walk us out of there.”
Mika not only got the win, but also the last word — literally.
“They are honoring their seniors (after the game) and it’s dead silent. I’m the only person in the gym talking as I was getting interviewed by ESPN,” he said. “It was one of the richest moments of my life.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.