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A week after beating Utah in Provo, BYU has lost to No. 1 Arizona and No. 11 Kansas. Kevin Young’s squad finds itself now sitting at No. 16 in the Associated Press rankings heading into a crucial road trip at Oklahoma State.
The Cougars are 17-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big 12, while OSU is 15-6 and 3-5. BYU is favored to win this game on the road, and it is crucial for gaining momentum heading to a stretch where the Cougars will host Houston and face Arizona and Texas Tech. This is a fight for seeding in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.
Cougar Insider predictions
Question of the week: BYU is still in search of a signature win over top-ranked teams after losing as underdogs to Texas Tech and Kansas on the road and No. 1 Arizona at home. With slow starts that put the Cougars in a hole early, how will Kevin Young rectify this? Who has the bigger piece of the accountability pie, the coaching staff or players?
Jay Drew: Having watched all three of BYU’s Big 12 losses in person, my take is that the Cougars simply don’t come out with enough defensive intensity early, and allow opponents to get going offensively — especially some players who normally don’t thrive in big games.
On the offensive end, the Cougars, for some reason, can’t make shots early. Then those players who are missing the shots let it affect their defense, and everything snowballs.
So everyone deserves a little piece of the blame. As for AJ Dybantsa specifically, I think the star freshman has been too unselfish lately. He’s been hesitant to really take over games, especially on the road in those losses to Texas Tech and Kansas.
Young said after the Kansas loss that he’s “examined it eight different ways to the moon and back” and concluded that the problem is the lack of shotmaking. That is a pretty simple explanation, but it is true.
It kinda reminds me of those days when Nick Emery was doing his thing for the Cougars. If that first shot went in, Emery was lights-out. If that first shot didn’t fall, it was going to be a long night for him.
So this dilemma is on both the coaches and the players to fix. Coaches have got to get guys in better spots to make shots, and guys have to keep playing hard even when their shots aren’t falling.
Also, it would help if the players who are being paid to make shots actually started making shots. In the Arizona and Kansas games, I counted a half-dozen bunnies in each game that were missed. BYU could get away with that in the WCC, but not in the Big 12.
Prediction: BYU 84, Oklahoma State 81
Dick Harmon: Hate to pull the “I remember back in the time” theme, but in the Roger Reid era, there was an intense emphasis on valuing possessions, treating them like gold. That took focus, accountability and elite execution from a group of BYU basketball players who were not the top recruits in the country and certainly not getting paid NIL money to perform.
Kevin Young has alluded to the fact that the slow starts are due to execution issues. To me, that’s focus and maturity. You see this struggle in mindless turnovers, failure to close out on 3-point shooters, “being late” to get there, and failure to answer an opponent’s runs.
This team is capable of doing all of that. I wonder if having three big scorers makes the others less locked-in when their time comes, an idea that those three will simply get it done. And is it possible that the Big 3, knowing they have to do most of it offensively, save themselves a little on defense so they can make shots on the other end of the court? It is an interesting debate.
Evaluating this team is an exercise in nit-pickery, because didn’t we just see this team battle back against No. 1 Arizona, have the ball with 11 seconds left to make a basket and win, and come up short on a blocked shot attempt by Robert Wright in the lane? Things are that close.
I think this team just needs to play better defense. The thing about defense is, it travels. Defense leads to a better offense. You measure intensity on both ends of play by the tone-setter, which is defense. Defense leads to opponent turnovers, bad shots, blocked shots, steals, defensive rebounds and transition baskets.
There’s a theory, and I believe it’s true, that by playing hard and intense on defense, an offense can feed on those stops and that’s when runs are made. The Cougars have been lazy on defense. Get defenders on the floor and give them minutes.
We saw Alabama end BYU’s NCAA run last year with record 3-point shooting. Now we’re seeing seldom successful 3-point shooters taking it to BYU from outside. That’s a lack of defense.
Prediction: BYU 79, Oklahoma State 72
Cougar tales
Football coach Kalani Sitake finalized his coaching staff and this roundup covers it all. In addition, BYU football elevated or added Raelon Singleton to assistant receivers coach, Dylan Almond as assistant special teams coach, and Tyler Hughes as assistant QB coach. These hires and additions display how BYU’s elevated resources have enabled football to get needed help to compete in the Big 12.
Lee Cummard-coached BYU women raced past rival Utah in impressive fashion.
Kevin Young watches as his Cougars undergo a familiar slow start at Kansas and come up short at the end. Read Jay Drew’s analysis here. The best player on the floor was Richie Saunders with a double-double.
From the archives
From the X-verse
Extra points
- BYU’s silent killer: injuries (Lawless Republic)
- NFL tackle tuned into BYU all the time (Deseret News)
- KenPom predicts BYU at Oklahoma State (Sports Illustrated)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
As much as I want BYU to do great they are not a great team. They have a great player and two really good ones but they just have not come together as a group yet. Last year’s team moved the ball and had defenses in twists trying to keep up. This year’s team doesn’t do that very well and they are easier to defend. I hope they can make some changes but I don’t see it coming after 20 games of it not.
— Tired_of_Contention
A favorite claim among sports teams is “I trust my teammates.” BYU does not play like a team. They aren’t there on defense to help their teammates and their offense is only to give the ball to AJ and watch him go. They need to have all five guys involved in offense and defense and develop a flow versus guys standing around watching the star. AJ will still get his points and opportunities in a motion offense versus just giving him the ball. Make all of the guys feel like a part of the team.
Saunders had a great game Saturday but he has not been as effective this year and in my not so knowledgeable opinion this is the reason why, there is no flow to the BYU offense. They don’t trust in their teammates because they are not given the chance to play as a team.
— DH48
Up next
- Feb. 4 | 5:30 p.m. | women’s basketball | @ Kansas
- Feb. 4 | 7 p.m. | men’s basketball | @ Oklahoma State
- Feb. 5 | 5 p.m. | softball | Tennessee @ Florida
- Feb. 5 | 5:30 p.m. | men’s tennis | Montana State
- Feb. 6 | 11 a.m. | women’s tennis | Arkansas State @ Memphis
- Feb. 6 | 2 p.m. | men’s volleyball | @ Lincoln Memorial
- Feb. 6 | 3 p.m. | softball | Michigan State @ Florida
- Feb. 6 | 5 p.m. | track | Utah
- Feb. 6 | 6 p.m. | softball | Notre Dame @ Florida
- Feb. 7 | 11 a.m. | women’s tennis | @ Memphis
- Feb. 7 | 1 p.m. | softball | Penn State @ Florida
- Feb. 7 | 3 p.m. | women’s basketball | @ Kansas State
- Feb. 7 | 8:30 p.m. | men’s basketball | Houston
- Feb. 9 | 8 a.m. | women’s golf | @ Thunderbird Intercollegiate