No. 23 BYU Relies on Toughness as Struggling Utah Visits Provo
The 23rd-ranked Cougars enter Saturday night’s regular-season finale against visiting Utah in Provo riding a seven-game winning streak, with five of those victories coming against Quad 1 teams.
This success has earned them a bye into the Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinals, putting BYU in a strong position for a solid NCAA Tournament seed.
BYU heads into the weekend on the back of perhaps its most impressive win of the season — a 88-85 double-overtime victory at No. 10 Iowa State, which had been 33-1 at home over the past two seasons before the Cougars (22-8, 13-6) handed them their second loss.
Despite committing a staggering 29 turnovers, BYU made up for it by dominating the glass 52-24 and hitting 11 3-pointers. Richie Saunders scored a game-high 23 points, making all 13 of his free throws, and Dallin Hall came off the bench to add 22 points, including 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.
First-year coach Kevin Young attributes the team’s turnaround to a pivotal halftime meeting in Orlando on February 1, when BYU trailed Central Florida 40-38 but rallied for an 81-75 win.
“Enough was enough in terms of teams punking us, pushing us, not letting us hold space, taking the ball from us,” he reflected. “Since that moment, we’ve grown a lot and are really asserting ourselves on teams now.”
This mindset led Young to sum up the team’s recent success during an interview on the Cougars’ radio network Tuesday night, calling their latest victory “just toughness, honestly.”
While BYU is finishing strong, the Utes (16-14, 8-11) seem to be biding their time until the season concludes, before rebuilding the program under Alex Jensen. The former NBA interim coach was named Thursday to replace Craig Smith, who was fired last week.
Jensen, 48, played for a national championship under Rick Majerus in 1998 and later served as an assistant at Saint Louis for four years before entering the NBA. Reports suggest he might hire his Utah teammate, current G-League coach and 17-year NBA veteran Andre Miller, as an assistant.
“My basketball journey has been shaped by so many people who’ve helped guide me as a coach and person, leading me to this opportunity,” Jensen said. Saw 6.
Utah is 1-2 under interim coach Josh Eilert, including a 71-69 loss at home to West Virginia on Tuesday. Eilert had previously led West Virginia to a 9-23 record as interim coach after Bob Huggins’ resignation following a DUI arrest.
Gabe Madsen scored a team-high 23 points for the Utes, hitting 5 of 14 3-pointers, and leads the team in scoring with 15.5 ppg.
Free-throw shooting has been a significant issue for Utah, which made only 22 of 32 attempts on Tuesday night and ranks 357th out of 364 Division I teams with a 64 percent rate from the line.
The Utes narrowly defeated BYU 73-72 on January 18 in Salt Lake City, thanks to a career-high
26 points from Ezra Ausar.
