Whiplash!
The best of times and the worst of times for BYU all happened within four days at the Marriott Center. Saturday night’s inspiring 79-69 upset of No. 6 Iowa State preceded Monday night’s mind-boggling 97-84 loss to UCF.
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A capacity crowd sat stunned as they watched the Knights hit one wide-open 3-point shot after another, including 11 in the first half. When they got tired of shooting outside, UCF went straight to the rim and built a 36-point lead.
“It’s important in these moments to not overreact but say what needs to be said and move on, and that’s how we are going to handle this game.”
BYU coach Kevin Young
BYU’s tenacious focus on defense and rebounding, which was too much for Iowa State to overcome, never gave UCF a second of trouble in a game where the Knights never trailed. The out-of-towners, who are fighting for their own footing in the NCAA Tournament, added the Cougars to a growing list of conquests that also include No. 17 Kansas and No. 11 Texas Tech.
“I have just as many questions as you have for me,” head coach Kevin Young told BYUtv. “It’s super disappointing, especially on the heels of the Iowa State game. I thought we had our group in a good place. I did not expect that and (I’m) just super disappointed.”
BYU’s reversal of fortunes started at the opening tip. Unranked UCF walked onto the Marriott Center floor dressed in their home white uniforms and then played like they were in Orlando.
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The Cougars rolled out black jerseys with royal trim for a promotional “Black Out” night and performed like they were the team 1,900 miles from home. In the early moments that mattered the most, BYU looked lethargic and lost while the Knights were having the time of their lives.
To their credit, the Cougars didn’t quit and the coaches didn’t stop coaching. Young tried every player combination possible, but nothing worked before a late push to reduce the final deficit to 13.
The loss dropped the Cougars into seventh place in the Big 12 (20-8, 8-7) with three games remaining before the conference tournament — at West Virginia (Saturday), at Cincinnati (Tuesday) and home against Texas Tech (next Saturday). They are all winnable games — and they are all losable.
“I think the big thing this time of year is you can’t turn it on. You have to be on all the time,” Young said. “You have to continue to build the habits of what it takes to win. That’s really what I’m thinking about more than anything.”
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BYU’s bad night isn’t exclusive. Almost everybody seems to have one in the Big 12. Houston has lost three straight games for the first time in nine years. Kansas, which beat Houston on Monday, got thumped at home by unranked Cincinnati 48 hours earlier. It’s maddening, but it happens.
“It’s important in these moments to not overreact but say what needs to be said and move on, and that’s how we are going to handle this game,” Young said. “It’s a tough league. You can’t take anything for granted. You can’t have any off nights. You see it across the league and unfortunately it happened to us tonight.”
As bad as the UCF performance was for BYU, the Iowa State win is still pretty big. What really matters is what happens next. Now it’s the Cougars turn to travel 1,900 miles away from home to face West Virginia on Saturday (3:30 p.m. MST, Fox).
If BYU can learn anything from this week’s dose of whiplash, it must be that even with the nation’s leading scorer, defense and rebounding remains their ticket to success and the only way to fill the enormous gap left by Richie Saunders’ season-ending injury.
UCF forward Jordan Burks (99) shoots over BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) during the first half an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Provo, Utah. | Tyler Tate
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
