LAWRENCE, Kansas — The battle between the two players expected to be taken with the first two picks in June’s NBA draft dominated all the storylines Saturday afternoon as No. 13 BYU and AJ Dybantsa faced off against No. 14 Kansas and Darryn Peterson.
Then another player, BYU senior Richie Saunders, who could be drafted in the second round if everything falls his way, almost stole the show.
In the end, however, it was a familiar BYU malady that cost Saunders all the glory and the Cougars a chance to ride out of bonkers Phog Allen Fieldhouse with another huge upset win.
Despite outscoring the Jayhawks by 12 points in the second half and keeping the 16,300 fans in their seats to the bitter end, the Cougars fell 90-82 in the battle of Big 12 heavyweights thanks to another abysmal first half.
“If I see one more analytic about how we are the best offensive second half team in the country, I am going to throw up,” Young said.
Sorry, coach, but the reputation will grow until the Cougars figure it out. Their chances for doing so are running out, as BYU dropped its second game in a row for the first time this season, and again fell short after losing to No. 1 Arizona last Monday in semi-similar fashion.
If I see one more analytic about how we are the best offensive second half team in the country, I am going to throw up.
— BYU basketball coach Kevin Young
Kansas made 9 of 12 3-point attempts in the first half to break out to a 53-33 lead, then withstood a spirited BYU rally — fueled by Saunders — to win its fifth straight game.
“We played great for 20 minutes,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “That’s the best we’ve played all year long.”
And that was enough this time.
Two years ago, Mark Pope-led BYU overcame a 12-point second-half deficit and won 76-68 at Allen, spurred on by a Pope technical foul.
For a while Saturday afternoon, with Saunders, who scored a career-high 33 points, putting on a wicked shooting display, it appeared history might repeat itself.
“Well, No. 1, I thought Richie Saunders was the best player on the court today,” Young said, when asked how Dybantsa and Peterson handled all the hype.
“If someone can find a tougher competitor in the country, I am all ears. I thought he played unbelievable.”
To his credit, Peterson answered the bell better than Dybantsa did, scoring 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting in 20 minutes before he was sidelined by cramping issues.
Clearly, Peterson outshined Dybantsa in his limited minutes, and threw down a dunk over BYU’s Keba Keita and Mihailo Boskovic that will surely make SportsCenter’s Top 10, if not No. 1.
“Just unfortunate that you didn’t see him for 40 minutes,” Self said, then added, regarding the dunk: “That was good to see that he showed a lot in his bag in the first half.”
Self noted Peterson’s absence as the biggest reason why BYU was able to mount a ferocious comeback, because the Jayhawks are not among the deepest teams in the country.
“We were exhausted on both ends,” Self said of the second half. “The adrenaline ran out and switched jerseys. … Give them credit. They were fresher.”
Actually, BYU didn’t have much depth, either, as a huge 3-pointer by Khadim Mboup were the only points Young got from his bench.
Five nights after hitting five 3-pointers against Arizona, Kennard Davis was 0 of 4 from deep, and finished with a measly two points, but the Cougars had Saunders, who displayed that trademark will to win that Young has marveled over since he arrived in Provo.
Saunders had 22 points on 9 of 13 shooting in BYU’s 91-57 crushing of KU last year in Provo. The Jayhawks don’t have to travel to Utah at all this season; They will host the Utah Runnin’ Utes on Feb. 7.
“I love playing in big games, and any time I get the opportunity to do what I love, I’m grateful,” Saunders said. “There’s a lot that we need to improve on, and we will.
“I’m excited to continue to move forward. I’ve been in this position many times in my career, and, I know the flip side of what is waiting for us.”
How close did the Cougars (5-3, 17-4) get? Close enough that KU’s crowd started having flashbacks to two years ago. Rob Wright’s two free throws with 1:27 remaining cut the deficit to 82-78.
But out of a timeout, and with the shot clock winding down, KU’s Melvin Council got an improbable make, a 14-footer with a minute remaining.
Saunders missed a long 3-pointer at the other end, and that was pretty much it.
“Do you mean that off-balance shot that happened to go in?” Self said of Council’s dagger.
With 32 scouts from 17 NBA teams in attendance, Dybantsa did little to boost his stock with the pros and was 6 of 12 from the field for 17 points, with two turnovers and just one assist.
Self credited the defense of Flory Bidunga on Dybantsa as a difference-maker in the game.
Offensively, KU’s biggest star was Bryson Tiller, who had 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Tiller was 3 for 3 from 3 in the first half, while Peterson was 3 for 4.
The Cougars were 4 of 16 from deep in the first half, 7 of 16 in the second half. They had just one turnover in the second half.
“Most of our woes in the first half have been execution-related,” Young said. “I think that was the case, and they were (on fire).
“It is hard to overcome 9 of 12 from 3. … I have examined it eight different ways to the moon and back, and at the end of the day, it is shot-making. We were shooting the 3 at a much higher clip in the second half.”
As for Dybantsa, Young suggested he held onto the ball too much in the first half, then started to get things figured out in the second half, started to find his spots.
Dybantsa was 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, with KU’s crowd chanting “overrated, overrated” when he made two free throws with 12:46 remaining in a rare trip to the line.
“I’m not crying over spilt milk, but the guy leads the country pretty much in fouls drawn. He got to the line four times,” Young said.
“I thought there was plenty of times where he could have been fouled that they missed, but that’s life. You gotta keep playing. … All in all, I thought he handled everything well relative to, like, all the outside noise.”
Only 7 of 15 free-throw shooting by Kansas in the first half kept things from being worse for BYU. Dybantsa didn’t attempt a shot until 11:24 remained in the half, and by that time the Cougars were trailing 22-14 and Peterson already had nine points.
Young spoke Friday about the importance of getting off to a quick start and solid first half to take the crowd out of the game, but just the opposite happened.
The Jayhawks went on a 13-0 run midway through the half, reminiscent of what Arizona did in Provo.
Dybantsa finally hit a 3-pointer to snap BYU’s string of eight straight misses and end a 5:23 scoring drought in the first half. Before hitting the triple, Dybantsa had missed 10 straight shots, going back to the Arizona game when he was 6 of 24.
Add it all up, and it was another opportunity lost for BYU, which heads back out on the road next week to face Oklahoma State in Stillwater before hosting No. 10 Houston on Saturday.
Is Young concerned?
“I’m not worried. I mean, that’s the beauty, the blessing and the curse, of being in this league,” he said. “Every night, for the most part, is a night where you have an opportunity to get a big win. We just try to focus on what’s in front of us.
“That’s kind of been my message to the guys. We’re a battle-tested group. Where we’re at, we are a couple shots away from being able to have some of those (Quad 1) wins. That just gives us more fire in the belly to get it right.”