Head coach Kevin Young and the No. 16 BYU Cougars are still searching for a signature win as No. 8 Houston rides into Provo with one of the best defenses in the country
Two words are written in bright red magic marker at the top of the whiteboard in BYU basketball coach Kevin Young’s office at the Marriott Center Annex.
Find solutions.
If Young’s Cougars, who have dropped three straight games, ever need to heed that advice, it is now.
Fresh off their discouraging 99-92 loss at unranked Oklahoma State in which their defense was “abysmal” and “awful,” in Young’s words, the reeling Cougars (17-5, 5-4) host one of the best teams in the country, No. 8 Houston, at the Marriott Center on Saturday night (8:30 p.m. MST, ESPN).
Houston (20-2, 8-1) is coming off a 79-55 blasting of UCF and has won three straight games and 14 of its last 15. The red Cougars crushed the blue Cougars twice last year, 86-55 in Houston and 74-54 in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.
Just like BYU, Houston is led by one of the best freshmen in the country, Kingston Flemings. The 6-foot-4 guard from San Antonio, Texas, is averaging 17 points and 5.4 assists per game.
“Coach (Kelvin) Sampson has got it rolling down there. Obviously, they have some great players, (including) a really dynamic young freshman,” Young said on his coaches show Thursday night. “They do what they do. They have a great identity, great culture, and it’s going to be a great opportunity for us to right the ship against a really good team, and I can’t wait for the game.”
Young said Flemings “is a guy we actually looked at quite a bit” on the recruiting trail.
“Super dynamic player,” Young said. “It will be a fun challenge to try to slow him down.”
Houston opened as a 2.5-point favorite in Las Vegas. Kenpom favors the red Cougars by a point and gives BYU a 48% chance to win.
While BYU is struggling defensively, Houston is just the opposite. Sampson’s squad is No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 61.4 points per game.
That’s a half-point more than BYU’s Big 3 — freshman AJ Dybantsa, sophomore Rob Wright and senior Richie Saunders — averages per game, combined. Dybantsa scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting in Stillwater and “is in a good head space” right now, Young said, but BYU will need more contributions from everyone else if they hope to break through in their fifth consecutive Quad 1 game.
“Every night in the Big 12 is a chance to get a big win, a statement-type win, for the most part,” Young said. “Even if it is not a quote-unquote statement win, just a win that kind of bolsters your résumé for the tournament.”
Really, No. 16 BYU just needs a win of any sort right now after the close losses against No. 1 Arizona and No. 14 Kansas and the debacle at Oklahoma State. To bolster its NCAA Tournament case, the Cougars could really use a signature win in a game they are favored to lose.
Houston certainly qualifies.
The red Cougars are No. 2 in turnover margin and No. 8 in defensive efficiency. Senior guards Emanuel Sharp (15.9) and Milos Uzan (11.5), freshman center Chris Cenac (9.5) and junior forward Joseph Tugler (7.9) join Flemings in comprising one of the top starting fives in the country, while former Wasatch Prep star Isiah Harwell, a freshman guard, adds 5.1 points per game off the bench.
“We are in the middle of the fire and digging ourselves down into a little bit of a hole,” Young said. “That’s part of going through a season. There’s ups and downs. No one is going to run the table. Even these few teams left that haven’t been beaten I am sure will face some adversity soon.
“Man, I’ve been doing this a long time, and you always have parts of seasons that are like this, and it’s no fun going through it,” he continued. “That’s kind of my message to the guys. You just have to embrace it. You got to break the wall down. That’s the only way to do it.”
Young said the Kansas Jayhawks were “licking their chops to get us in their building after what we did to them in our building last year” and that BYU players and fans should treat Houston’s visit the same way after those blowout losses to Sampson and company last year.
“It is nice to get them back here,” Young said. “But just because you’re home doesn’t guarantee anything, obviously. But as much as I try to duck that and (not) acknowledge it, there’s definitely something to being home. … The energy from the fans is incredible, especially here, so we’re definitely looking forward to that.”
Category: General Sports
