Bringing water to a boil on a hot stove takes just five to 10 minutes. Getting a basketball team to its boiling point sometimes takes a whole season — but once it’s there, the team is ready to cook.
“I know it’s a cliché, but it’s been our mantra of taking it game by game and day by day. This team has done well keeping a singular focus.”
— BYU coach Kevin Young
It has been Kevin Young’s hope all along to have BYU playing its best basketball in March and his No. 17 Cougars enter this week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City as one of the hottest teams in the country.
Not only did BYU shoot way past its ninth-place preseason prediction to finish tied for third in the Big 12, but it is riding the second longest win-streak (eight games) in the league behind No. 2 Houston (10 games).
It was Houston that gave BYU a reality check on Jan. 4 when the red Cougars pounded the visiting Cougars blue — 86-55. The 31-point loss was BYU’s worst of the season, and the hangover lingered in consecutive defeats to Texas Tech in Provo and TCU on the road.
Limping along at 10-5, Young’s staff dug in, and the team responded in the way an NCAA Tournament squad would — by winning 13 of 16 games, cracking the top 20, earning a double-bye into the conference tournament and brandishing a First Team All-Big 12 player (Richie Saunders).
To continue with the kitchen phrase, Young brought the kettle to a boil at just the right time — tournament time, and he’s optimistic.
“Teams that advance are teams that show up every day and get better every day,” Young told his group in the victorious locker room Saturday night after BYU beat Utah 85-74 to wrap up the regular season.
BYU will practice in Provo on Tuesday morning before flying to Kansas City. The Cougars will face either No. 12-ranked Iowa State, Cincinnati or Oklahoma State in Thursday’s quarterfinals (10:30 a.m. MDT, ESPN or ESPN2).
A win on Thursday would likely pit BYU up against Houston in the semifinals.
“I know it’s a cliché, but it’s been our mantra of taking it game by game and day by day,” Young said on Monday. “This team has done well keeping a singular focus.”
Saunders is one of 10 conference players garnering first-team honors. He was also named the most improved player in the Big 12.
“He has an unbelievable work ethic and motor,” Young said. “With way we like to play, and his strengths, it has been a seamless fit. He has taken full advantage of that opportunity.”
Egor Demin received honorable mention accolades along with placement on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Young said freshman Kanon Catchings is still “day to day” after injuring his left knee against West Virginia on March 1.
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. Here