BYU men’s basketball has dropped two in a row and have dropped to #16 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. But the Cougars have been making national noise all season, proving they’re one of the best teams in college basketball.
In their last two losses, the Cougars found themselves down big, trailing by at least 20 points in both games versus the University of Arizona and Kansas University. While they made pushes late to come back and win those games, they fell short.
Some analysts try to find the silver lining: even though BYU lost both games, they have proven to be one of the best college basketball teams in the second half. But that’s not enough for head coach Kevin Young.
“If I see one more analytic about how we’re the best offensive second half team in the country, I’m going to throw up,” Young said. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing everything in our power individually and collectively to generate good offense in the first halves of ball games.”
After both losses this past week, the Cougars dropped to 17-4 on the season and landed themselves in the #16 spot in the latest Top 25, three spots down from the week before.
But the Cougars have played really well this season, with all four losses coming from Top 15 teams. And three of the four were not blowouts. Their first loss came from #3 UConn, losing by two. They then lost to #15 Texas Tech by 13, which you can argue isn’t a blowout. They then hosted #1 Arizona, where they rallied from 20 points down and nearly won the game, but a game-saving block by the Wildcats sealed the three-point win. Then their most recent loss came to #14 Kansas, losing by eight.
The Cougars, led by freshman phenom AJ Dybansta, have shown they can hang with the best of the best, but find themselves with a tough schedule in what is seen as the toughest conference in the country: the Big 12.
“One of the reasons why I picked BYU is just to be able to play in these different types of environments that I know get loud,” Dybansta said. “I know Tech is loud, Arizona, Kansas; and I know here it gets loud. So, I didn’t want to duck any smoke. I just wanted to play the best basketball in the best league.”
The season is still far from over. BYU has 10 more games to play before March Madness, with four of those games against ranked opponents like Houston, Iowa State and rematches against Arizona and Texas Tech.
And although they’ve lost some big games, Young doesn’t seem to be worried about his team.
“It feels like every night for the most part is a night where you have an opportunity to get a big win,” Young said. “We’re a battle-tested group. We’re a couple of shots away from being able to have some of those [wins]. And for me, that just puts more fire in the belly to get it right.”
The Cougars will end their two-game road trip against Oklahoma State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.