BYU’s challenging final stretch of the regular season just became much more difficult.
The Cougars, who have five Quad 1 opportunities in their last six regular season games, will face such a gauntlet without star guard Richie Saunders, who tore his ACL a mere 45 seconds into Saturday’s 90-86 overtime win against Colorado.
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It’s a borderline disastrous loss for BYU, which is now without its First Team All-Big 12 talent who was second on the team in scoring (18.8 points), third in rebounding (6.0) and first in steals (1.8) entering Saturday.
But the emotional consequences of the injury dwarf those of statistics alone — Saunders was the Cougars’ “heart and soul,” as head coach Kevin Young put it; their undisputed veteran leader and most experienced starter.
“It’s definitely hard because, you know, he brings so much shot making. He brings so much offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, and just he was just like our vocal leader, you know, a vet on the team,” AJ Dybantsa said of Saunders following the Colorado game.
A platoon of Tyler Mrus and Aleksej Kostic replaced Saunders against Colorado, with Mrus hitting two first half 3-pointers and a Kostic triple putting BYU ahead for good in overtime.
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“Unfortunately, you have to move on. You have to find a way to come in and channel that emotion,” Young said of how his team responded following Saunders’ exit. “I thought Tyler did a great job coming in and making a couple shots, and then obviously Aleksej coming in and moving a huge one there at the end.
“It’s a team game, and guys need to come in off the bench and be ready to go, which we haven’t done a lot of this year, but I was proud of our guys for coming in and contributing to the win today.”
Young is right — BYU’s bench contributions have been limited this season, with the Cougars ranking No. 351 nationally in team bench scoring out of 365 teams.
BYU should have been much deeper — similar to how last year’s Cougars operated — but season-ending injuries to Dawson Baker, Nate Pickens and Brody Kozlowski prevented that.
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So how will shorthanded BYU replace Saunders’ production, especially the 20.8% of their overall scoring that he’s provided?
Against Colorado, Dybantsa and Rob Wright III rose to the occasion. Dybantsa scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists, while Wright posted a career-high 39 points to go with five boards and four assists.
The “Brig 3″ of Saunders, Wright and Dybantsa already formed the highest scoring trio in all of college basketball this season. With Saunders now out of the picture, Wright and Dybantsa will be tasked with shouldering a heavier workload than ever before.
But they can’t do it alone. If the Cougars want to keep their ceiling from plummeting, as unlikely as that may be for a Saunders-less squad, others need to pull more weight.
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There’s Kennard Davis Jr., an oft-overlooked starter who has struggled with inconsistency since arriving in Provo but will now be given a greater role.
The Southern Illinois transfer has performed well at times, including in Quad 1 contests against Miami, Arizona and Baylor, but he’s shot just 36.5% from the field this year and has a plus/minus of -4 in Big 12 play.
Getting closer to the nearly 40% 3-point shooter he was last year would go a long way for BYU.
Starting center Keba Keita has averaged just 4.9 points per game in the past month, with Young saying Saturday that the big man has been dealing with a hand injury as of late.
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Keita’s backup, midseason addition Abdullah Ahmed, has scored just 22 points in 11 Big 12 appearances. While the pair of bigs do a good job cleaning up the glass, increased post scoring is paramount for the Cougars.
Reserves Mrus, Kostic, Mihailo Boskovic and Khadim Mboup, averaging a combined 10.3 points per game this season, should all get more run going forward — especially recent riser Mboup.
His offensive bag isn’t outrageous, but Mboup provides positional versatility and the non-box score hustle plays that BYU will miss from Saunders.
Boskovic has made 60.7% of his 2-pointers and is capable of hitting triples, while 95% of Mrus and Kostic’s field goal attempts have come from behind the arc.
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Mrus and Kostic did each hit multiple 3-pointers against Colorado, but they’re making just a collective 32.9% of such shots on the season. Perhaps more consistent minutes will yield higher efficiency for the deep threat duo.
“I see these guys in practice, so you know, Tyler and Aleksej stepped up, they’ve been able to come in, hit 3s and play defense. I’m super confident in those guys,” Dybantsa said.
“… I have confidence in the guys to step up. I think (Davis) can step up some more, hit some shots. Tyler, (Boskovic) off the bench. I think everybody just has a chance and everybody’s going to step into their roles.”
BYU is not better without Saunders — not by a long shot. His injury will go down alongside Brandon Davies’ 2011 season-ending suspension and the 2020 NCAA Tournament cancellation as one of the worst breaks in program history.
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But while the Cougars’ candidacy for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament has taken a major hit, BYU has the opportunity to reinvent itself and prove its resilience in pressing forward.
All doesn’t have to be lost without Saunders. Young’s crew can still meet some of the high expectations from this season, but as Dybantsa said, it’ll take some serious stepping up.
The post-Saunders challenge ahead begins with a Wednesday matchup against No. 1 Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson, with the Wildcats coming off two straight losses and dealing with some injury concerns of their own.
“We’re coming in ready,“ Dybantsa said. ”We’re gonna trust the staff and go get a win in McKale.”
BYU head coach Kevin Young slaps hands with forward AJ Dybantsa (3) as a timeout is called during an NCAA men’s basketball game against Holy Cross held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
