Saturday night’s rematch with No. 10 Texas Tech in the Marriott Center wasn’t really a must-win situation for the struggling BYU Cougars, but it sure felt like it to coach Kevin Young and his confidence-depleted team.
Then the squad that had lost three straight games and was being accused of perhaps packing it in since the loss of superstar Richie Saunders went out and played with a passion and energy — particularly on defense — to silence the critics and show that it possibly could be a threat in March Madness.
BYU overcame an absolutely torrid Texas Tech shooting display in the first half and an eight-point deficit at the break to rally past the Red Raiders 82-76 on Senior Night in front of a sellout crowd of 18,104.
That collective sigh of relief as the roof was practically being blown off the Marriott Center came from BYU fans far and wide as students stormed the court to celebrate BYU’s second win over a top 10 team this season.
Young says it “goes without saying” that this was a win the Cougars (9-9, 21-10) absolutely had to have after looking horrible the last time they were on the Marriott floor, losing badly to so-so UCF.
“I am just proud of our guys, because it has been an adversity filled season,” Young said. “… Given where we currently are, coming off that road trip, off that UCF fiasco, to have the grit and fortitude to beat a really good team (was special).
“I do think it can be something we can bottle up as we head into the postseason.”
Speaking of which, the Cougars finished in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with West Virginia, UCF and Cincinnati. However, because BYU lost to all three of those teams, the Cougars got the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament and will face No. 15 seed Kansas State on Tuesday (5 p.m. MST) at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
The winner will meet No. 7 seed West Virginia on Wednesday.
Suddenly, things don’t look as bleak for the Cougars as they did 24 hours ago; BYU seemed to rediscover its moxie and playmaking ability in Saturday’s first-ever Big 12 win over Texas Tech (12-6, 22-9), which was playing without Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin but was still as good as any team that has visited Provo this season.
At least in the first half, that is.
Texas Tech went 12 of 19 from 3-point range in the first half while BYU was ice cold out of the gate, and the visitors grabbed a 46-38 halftime lead.
But point guard Rob Wright III made a 3-point play on BYU’s first possession of the second half, and the comeback was on.
So was the best half of basketball that Wright has played as a Cougar. He made his first seven shots of the second half and finished with a game-high 27 points on 9 of 17 shooting.
He was also 9 of 9 from the free-throw line and grabbed six rebounds in 36 minutes without having a turnover.
“I think that one might be No. 1,” Wright said when asked if that was his best game in a BYU uniform.
Then there was the much-needed contribution from Kennard “Moo” Davis Jr., who had been struggling mightily the past few games.
Davis missed his first five 3-point attempts, but got it going late in the first half and finished with 16 points on 4 of 10 shooting from deep, 6 of 12 overall.
After Texas Tech crawled back from a 75-66 deficit with a 9-0 run to tie it with 1:46 left, Davis hit his fourth 3-pointer at the 1:34 mark to right the ship.
Wright made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to ice it.
“He was great,” Young said of Davis. “I have really been impressed with Moo’s approach, honestly, since Richie went down. Even in practice, he’s a guy that is quiet, right? But his level of competing is not quiet. He’s very competitive.”
Young talked a lot before the game about regaining confidence, and Davis is a prime example of that. More of the same will be needed from the Southern Illinois transfer if the Cougars hope to win a few games in Kansas City.
Saturday’s other hero was center Keba Keita, whose perimeter defense — yes, perimeter defense — on TTU’s 3-point bombers completely changed the game in the second half.
The Red Raiders were 4 of 16 from beyond the arc in the second half as Keita got out on Christian Anderson (23 points), Donovan Atwell (23 points) and Jaylen Petty (14 points) after that threesome killed the Cougars in the first half.
“I just (stood) my ground,” said Keita, who also had nine points and 11 rebounds. “I just did my best to defend them.”
BYU ended up outscoring Tech 48-14 in the paint, and the Cougars got 20 second-chance points to TTU’s nine.
Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said BYU’s defensive adjustment in the second half was huge. He also noted that BYU got to the line often (14 of 19) while the Red Raiders settled for outside shots and attempted only eight free throws.
“Credit to BYU. Great win,” McCasland said. “What a great environment. It is not like they have been playing their best basketball.
“I thought they had a second half where they played great, and this environment really made a difference in this game. … And when you get crushed in the paint like we did tonight, it is going to be hard to win.”
McCasland also heaped praise on BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, although the freshman made just eight of 25 shots (1 of 6 from 3-point range) and took a couple of ill-advised shots late that enabled TTU to make its comeback.
Dybantsa still finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes, with just one turnover.
Remarkably, BYU committed just three turnovers, a season low.
“I think it was giving maximum effort,” Wright said. “Coach has been big on that this week in practice after those two losses on the road, so we were just making sure we were giving it our all, not taking any plays off.”
The Cougars’ defensive effort was fairly decent early and throughout the first half, but Texas Tech simply made shots — all kinds of shots, but most of them from 3-point range.
BYU did not commit a single turnover in the first half, but still fell behind by 13 (31-18) at one point in the first 20 minutes because of poor shooting — a striking contrast to the way the Red Raiders were hitting almost everything.
BYU made only one of its first 13 3-point attempts before Davis heated up in the last six minutes of the half; After missing his first five 3-point attempts, Davis made three straight to close out the half.
Anderson and Atwell combined for 29 first-half points for Tech, with Anderson going 5 of 8 from deep and Atwell 4 of 5.
Texas Tech scored 1.58 points per possession in the first half, BYU 1.22.
Somehow, though, the Cougars turned it around after falling behind by double digits in a first half for the 15th time this season.
“I am just happy for our guys, No. 1, and happy for the fans,” Young said. “I mean, our fan base is second to absolutely none. They are just incredible.”
