Scoring an upset win over No. 6 Iowa State this past weekend bought BYU a great deal of goodwill.
But just three days later, it’s all gone.
The No. 19-ranked Cougars fell 97-84 Tuesday night at home to UCF, and in doing so lost much more than just a basketball game — they squandered all of their existing momentum, along with much of the optimism and belief held by fans regarding the team’s March potential.
Such feelings were made clear by the boos heard from members of the Marriott Center crowd throughout the frustration-filled night.
“I hope there was a level of embarrassment and just unacceptable (feelings),” Cougars head coach Kevin Young said of his players hearing the booing. “I wasn’t upset with the fans. Our fans are incredible, you know? They deserve to see a product that has a lot more effort than what our guys showed tonight.”
Heavily-favored BYU didn’t lead for one second against UCF. The Cougars, winners of their previous 16 home matchups with unranked opponents, instead surrendered 97 points in their own building to a solid Knights squad playing without its leading scorer.
UCF opened on a 14-4 run after less than four minutes. The Knights held a 24-point halftime advantage and led by 36 early in the second half before taking their foot off the gas and allowing BYU to make the final score appear more respectable.
But the eye test won’t fool anyone. For the majority of the game, the Cougars played as poorly as they ever have under Young.
In this writer’s opinion, not since either BYU’s 80-57 flop against San Diego in the 2019 West Coast Conference tournament or a 75-60 home loss to Utah Valley in 2022 has the program experienced such an abashing individual result.
“We were sleepwalking out there,” Young said. “It’s hard to pinpoint, but I didn’t expect that in the slightest. I’m super disappointed in our guys, super disappointed in myself and our coaches. It just was a night that was not good all around, there was just every breakdown you could possibly imagine.
“You have to give all the credit to Central Florida, they played a great basketball game. They were the way hungrier team, they punked us, and they deserve all the credit.”
UCF set the tone early by sinking five of its first six 3-pointers. After missing their next three deep attempts, the Knights then continued their onslaught to drain eight of nine triples, with nearly every 3-point attempt being uncontested.
In all, UCF shot 58% from 3-point range. For comparison, BYU made just 53% of its layups.
“I think there were probably two (3-point attempts) that I think were contested at a rate that I would have been pleased with,” Young said. “Whether we didn’t respect their shooters or what, I don’t know. I mean, I’m looking at things that we did as a staff and things like that, but we didn’t approach this game with any less vigor than we have any other game this year. So we’ll have to figure that out with the players in a pretty candid film session tomorrow.
“But again, shot making is what makes the game challenging, because it’s hard to overlook it, right? When you’re not making shots and they feel like they’re making everything, you got to make them miss. That’s why their players deserve credit for stepping up and knocking shots down.”
BYU’s first-half offense was putrid, scoring just 28 points in the first 20 minutes of play while shooting 31% from the field and 27% from 3-point range.
The Cougars did produce 56 points after halftime, but not before UCF opened the second half with a 12-0 run to extend its lead to 36 points — by far BYU’s largest deficit of the year.
“I think it was just a lack of effort,” BYU wing AJ Dybantsa said of the slow second half start. “We got lazy and they took advantage of it. We tried to blitz a couple times and they got a couple of dunks early. We just have to be better coming out of halftime.”
Dybantsa did finish with 29 points and eight rebounds on 11 of 22 shooting, but he began the night making just four of 12 field goals and only getting to the free throw line twice in the first half.
“(UCF) did a good job, like most teams, where they just crowded (Dybantsa),” Young said. “... I think the times where he gets himself in trouble are where he’s trying too hard to get fouled. I thought that kind of put him in a space of frustration tonight.”
Rob Wright III added 20 points on 7 of 21 shooting with seven assists and four rebounds, while BYU’s three other starters — Mihailo Boskovic, Kennard Davis Jr. and Keba Keita — combined to shoot 5 for 14 with just 14 points.
Conversely, two UCF players scored 24 points, two others scored in double figures as well, and the Knights scored 44 paint points, 19 points in transition and averaged 1.31 points per possession.
Things appear dire for the Cougars, who now sit at 8-7 in Big 12 play and 20-8 on the season.
However, Dybantsa isn’t abandoning any of his belief.
“My confidence is extremely high,” Dybantsa said. “We have a tough road trip coming up with Cincinnati and West Virginia, two really good teams. If we can win those games and come back home and take care of Texas Tech, I think we will be in a good spot heading into March.”
