BYU heads to No. 14 Kansas in its “gauntlet” against Big 12-ranked teams Texas Tech and Arizona, and the onus is on the Cougars to play a complete game.
As shown in a last-second comeback loss to No. 1 Arizona Monday, the Cougars cannot afford to have these “partial” games against this kind of high-level competition. Still, the Cougars are ahead of last year’s Big 12 campaign at this stage of the season, which ended up with a No. 3 seed in Kansas City and a Sweet 16 appearance.
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The Cougars are 17-3 overall and 5-2 in Big 12, tied with Kansas and Iowa State and behind 8-0 Arizona, 6-1 Texas Tech and 5-1 Houston.
In the 3-point loss to Arizona, BYU displayed its strengths and weaknesses. The Cougars are a team that can rally, can fight, can score points in a flurry of buckets, but can also fall behind and give an opponent huge runs.
In the win over Utah, star freshman AJ Dybantsa scored a freshman-record 43 points and it worked. Against Arizona, BYU needed far more than Dybantsa to compete and win. They didn’t get enough of the little things, like free throws made. In this loss, Dybantsa was just 6 for 24 from the field.
Then there’s this stat: Dybantsa was 11 of 16 from the line. The rest of BYU’s team made just three trips to the line and made one free throw. That was not normal for the Cougars. Arizona shot 26 of 32 free throws, ultimately resulting in the difference.
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In time, hopefully soon, this BYU team, led by a remarkable trio of NBA-caliber players, may find a way to play a complete game and put all their talents to work. But on Monday night, that was not the case.
Maybe it was the moment. A national TV audience, Jazz players and coaches on the front row, and some 40 NBA scouts and general managers in attendance may have put some pressure on the Cougars in the Marriott Center, denting their ability to avoid mistakes. But mistakes were there and that’s something you can’t have against elite college opponents.
The Cougars get a second chance to remedy the challenge this Saturday when they visit Kansas, a team that is on the rise. Again, this will be a national TV moment with “College GameDay” featuring the game on prime time nationally.
Kevin Young has to preach that this is one more great opportunity. A time for redemption.
Brigham Young Cougars forward Richie Saunders (15) reaches for a rebound during a game between BYU and the Kansas Jayhawks at the Marriott Center on the campus of BYU in Provo on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Cougar Insider predictions
Question of the week: With BYU falling behind No. 1 Arizona in the first half of Monday’s loss, then staging a comeback that fell short, what can the Cougars learn from what happened in the Marriott Center? Predict the score of BYU at Kansas on Saturday,
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Jay Drew: Plenty can be learned from BYU’s wild 86-83 loss to No. 1 Arizona on Monday night at the Marriott Center. Most notably, Kevin Young and his staff — and the Wildcats — learned once again that the Cougars can never be counted out.
Led by Richie Saunders, whom Young has said has a will to win unlike anyone he’s ever seen before, No. 13 BYU almost pulled off its second-biggest comeback of the season. It was eerily similar to BYU’s comeback win over Clemson at Madison Square Garden, when it fell behind by 22 points.
Rob Wright was the hero in that one, making a 3-pointer in overtime to give the Cougars the win. He was almost the hero Monday night, but Arizona’s Brayden Burries just made a heady defensive play, swatting the ball from behind.
The Cougars should also learn that they can’t afford to keep playing so poorly in the first half. Lost in the excitement over the finish was that BYU looked awful in the second half of the first half, and trailed 44-31 at the break.
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BYU also learned that it is a much better team when a fourth guy steps up to help the “Big 3” in the scoring department. Kennard Davis Jr. was a big scorer at Southern Illinois last year, and if he can shoot like he did in the second half Monday, he can be the sniper the Cougars need to complement AJ Dybantsa, Wright and Saunders. Aleksej Kostic also hit two huge 3s.
Another thing: BYU won’t get far in the NCAA Tournament if it can’t make free throws consistently. The Cougars missed seven big ones against Arizona. Those misses hurt.
Now the Cougars face another tough task — beating a Kansas team that is playing well at Allen Fieldhouse.
Prediction: Kansas 84, BYU 79
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Dick Harmon: I think BYU learned a valuable lesson in the loss to Arizona, and it came from watching how Arizona played. The Wildcats were polished, confident and assertive. BYU’s players brought the effort, but not the polish. It showed in silly mistakes, including dumb turnovers, multiple missed free throws, stepping in the lane early on free throws (twice) and carelessness with possessions. These are all correctable.
Face it, Dybantsa and Wright had “off” shooting nights, missing shots they normally make. They were a combined 9 of 40 from the field. How much do you credit Arizona’s defense? How much was it just being off? They were defended very well by Arizona, but they missed shots that usually go down. Saunders said it correctly in the postgame: If BYU plays a full game, they can beat anyone.
Full games seem to elude this team. Against the top-ranked Wildcats, the Cougars led 26-24 with 7:05 left in the first half, then trailed 44-31 at the break. Arizona outscored the Cougars 20-5 in the final seven minutes before halftime. Then, BYU outscored Arizona 52-42 in the second half. The Cougars scored 35 points in the final 9:20 of the game. That is an amazing inconsistency for what is definitely an explosive BYU offense. Arizona’s defense was ranked No. 4 by KenPom.
How inconsistent? BYU trailed UConn by 20 and lost by 2; trailed Clemson by 22 and won; and trailed Arizona by 19, cut it to 1 with the ball and 11 seconds left, and lost by 3.
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This game was a mirror image of the UConn game, where the Cougars came back (this time from 20), and Wright had the ball at the end with a chance to tie vs. UConn, and win (vs. Arizona). Wright’s last-second 3-point make at the buzzer won the Clemson game. You can put money on Wright, but this wasn’t his night. Arizona outscored BYU by 14 on the line. If BYU had made 16 free throws instead of 12, they’d have beat Arizona.
BYU has now lost to No. 1, No. 2, and No. 11 and stands 17-3 overall. The losses to the two top teams in the country, totaled five points. In the loss to UConn, BYU didn’t have Davis (injury) or Abdullah Ahmed. The clock is ticking for this team to fix mistakes. Will it happen on the road at Kansas? It is huge that Davis scored 17 points and made 5 of 8 from beyond the arc against Arizona. This is part of the puzzle.
Prediction: BYU 79, Kansas 76
Cougar tales
Here is our coverage of BYU’s narrow loss to the No. 1 Wildcats:
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BYU almost pulls one off for the ages (Jay Drew)
BYU’s relay team sets school record in swim meet with Air Force, read details here.
From the archives
https://www.deseret.com/sports/2026/01/23/byu-utah-whittingham-michigan-changes-college-football/
From X-verse
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Former Cougar’s prophecy on Davis (@For3JT)
Extra points
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NBA players, coach attend BYU game (KSLsports)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
I am impressed with AJ’s talent but not as impressed with his impact on the team. The basic offense is to give the ball to AJ and watch him dribble into the key. The rest of the team is not involved. If AJ is having a bad day no one is there to take over. Against average teams like Utah this is not a problem but against a good team, like Texas Tech, the dependency on AJ makes BYU a weak team. Wright and Saunders are great but you need reliable scoring from more guys to be a top team. Really wish the Y had developed a well-rounded team and not an AJ team with other guys on the floor.
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— DH48
When we fall flat this year what do we have for next year. No one playing from the bench is getting groomed for next year, and Wright will not stick around. Not the least bit impressed by these comebacks. Play two halves of basketball if you want to impress anyone, otherwise you’re no threat. I’ll say it again, this offense might work in the NBA and might be good for showcasing a player, but there needs to be more “team” concept if we are to achieve the hype we all hear.
— Slackoff
Up next
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Jan. 28| 5:30 p.m. | women’s basketball | @ Oklahoma State
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Jan. 29 | TBA | men’s and women’s diving | @ Air Force
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Jan. 29 | TBA | men’s tennis | Portland @ Hawaii
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Jan. 29 | 8 p.m. | men’s volleyball | @ UC Santa Barbara
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Jan. 30 | 8 am.| women’s golf | @ Guadalajara
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Jan. 30 | 11 a.m.| women’s tennis | @ Boise State
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Jan. 30 | 1 p.m. | men’s track and field | @ Utah State
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Jan. 30 | 1 p.m. | women’s track | @ Utah State
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Jan. 30 | 7 p.m. | gymnastics | Arizona
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Jan. 30 | 8 p.m. | men’s volleyball | @ UC Santa Barbara
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Jan. 31 | 8 a.m. | men’s track | @ Boston
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Jan. 31 | 11 a.m. | women’s tennis | @ Idaho State
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Jan. 31 | 2 p.m. | women’s basketball | Utah
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Jan. 31 | 2:30 p.m. | men’s basketball | @ Kansas
