After losing to Texas, how does Kevin Young assess BYU’s season?

PORTLAND, Ore. — BYU’s season began as the most anticipated in program history.

But the campaign ended Thursday in a fashion the school has known all too well over the years — a first-round NCAA Tournament exit, this time in a 79-71 upset at the hands of No. 11 seed Texas at Portland’s Moda Center.

“I mean, (it’s) disappointing, no question about it,” Young told reporters following Thursday’s loss. “I mean, we wanted to advance in this tournament. But so does everybody else. That’s why you play the game. That’s why you got to give Texas credit.”

“... We faced a lot of challenges this year, just like we did in this game. We battled back. That’s the mantra of this group. They never quit. I’m really proud of the group.”

BYU star AJ Dybantsa — who made history as the first freshman to score 35 points with 10 rebounds in a NCAA Tournament game — is likely headed to the NBA, thus ending his college career winless in the Big Dance.

“I think I’ll probably look back in 20 years and just have a lot of joy that I was able to be a part of his story, and to do it with guys like Rob Wright who’s been tremendous all year,” Young said of Dybantsa.

“... Obviously AJ gets a lot of the headlines, rightfully so. I thought there were moments in tonight’s game where he looked like that Portland Trail Blazer floor should have been down there. He looked like an NBA player because of the stuff he was able to do on the court.”

While the Dybantsa-led Cougars didn’t play deeper into March this season, Young still feels that Dybantsa’s time at BYU has helped the program raise its profile in attracting NBA-level talent.

“In terms of AJ coming to BYU, man, it’s been tremendous. Egor (Dëmin) came in and set the foundation. AJ kind of took the torch,” Young said. “It’s cool to hear him say how much he’s enjoyed being here. He’s going to be a Coug for life. That’s what’s awesome.

“That’s what I told the guys in the locker room, that’s probably my favorite thing about coaching, is you get a chance to make relationships for life. They go far beyond the court. Just glad that AJ is part of that, and so are (Wright and Richie Saunders).”

Injuries have cast a significant shadow on BYU’s season, having lost All-Big 12 First Team selection Saunders along with sixth man Dawson Baker to torn ACLs, in addition to other extended ailments for rotation players.

Considering the heavy health challenges for BYU, Young said the results of his team’s roster construction are “hard to evaluate.”

“I’m not crying over spilled milk, things happen in life, you have to figure it out. ... I’m just proud of this group,” Young said.

“In terms of the roster construction, it was constructed in a way that once AJ came, we were building it essentially around him and obviously Richie. That’s why Rob was such a humongous get for us. Then we tried to build it around that. We liked the level of maturity we had, number one. We liked the shooting that we had.”

Against Texas, BYU made just 4 of 22 3-pointers, finishing the season with a 34.9% shooting clip from behind the arc.

Prior to their injuries, Saunders and Baker had combined to shoot nearly 40% from deep, with the Cougars never fully being able to replace such perimeter contributions.

“I’m reminded of there’s just no substitute for shot-making, end of story,” Young said. “We were 4 of 22 from 3 (against Texas). We had a hard time shooting the ball the last couple weeks of the season. Our spacing was not where I’d like it to be. It’s the cards that we’ve been dealt.

”... In terms of this year’s team, it’s hard to really judge what we constructed because we were never able to see it with five season-ending injuries, which is crazy. There’s not guys like AJ that come around too often, right? I think we tried to build it around a unique player."

Young continued, “Now as we fast-forward for next year, trying to get shooting around Rob and have some dynamic spacing like we did our first year is something that will definitely be under heavy consideration.”

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