The BYU Cougars men’s basketball team seem to have finally ended their losing streak after a huge win over number 6 Iowa State.
BYU started the season with a 16-1 record and even claimed the No. 9 spot in the AP Top 25 for two weeks in a row. But after a tough loss to Texas Tech in mid-January, the Cougars seemed to fall apart.
Granted, they were losing games to really good teams, like No. 1 Arizona and No. 14 Kansas, but a loss to unranked Oklahoma State had everyone worried about the Cougars.
They went on to drop their fourth straight loss to No. 8 Houston and fell to No. 22 in the AP Top 25 poll.
But a couple of key wins against Baylor and Colorado helped get the Cougars back on track. They did lose to Arizona again, but they kept the game competitive.
This past weekend, however, the Cougars beat the No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones, a statement win that head coach Kevin Young was very proud of during the postgame press conference.
“It was phenomenal,” Young said. “I think it just says a lot about the guys in the locker room. No one’s batting an eye. They understand that we’ve faced a lot of adversity and, you know, no one’s blinked honestly. They’ve stayed together and they’ve kept working.”
Saturday’s win was perfectly timed and much needed. In a media conference Monday, Young attributed the success to execution.
“I just think understanding the why behind why we were able to win this game,” Young said. “The bottom line is we played and we executed for 40 minutes, and we played extremely hard. I think our guys understand how important that win was.”
But it can’t stop there. The Cougars only have four more regular season games before March Madness, where they were expected to be a top-tier team at the beginning of the season.
Up next is UCF, which is currently tied with BYU in the Big 12 standings.
“What I see on tape is a lot of really good one-on-one basketball players,” Young said. “We’ll have to do a good job with our one-on-one defense and be prideful in that. I mean this is a good opportunity for them to build up their resume. So, I’m sure it’s going to be a very intense basketball game, and our guys are ready for the challenge.”
BYU hosts the UCF Knights in the Marriott Center tonight at 9 p.m. in a conference matchup both teams are itching to win.