Ever since he replaced Mark Pope as BYU’s basketball coach back in April, Kevin Young has not shied away from expectations.
In fact, the former Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns assistant coach has embraced them, saying the goal is to compete for Big 12 and national championships, while preparing guys to play in the NBA.
Approaching the midway point of Young’s first season in Provo, however, the Cougars are not living up to the hype that exploded when Young reeled Richie Saunders and Dallin Hall back from the transfer portal, brought in Utah’s Keba Keita and Rutgers’ Mawot Mag from the portal, and landed prized recruits Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings.
The Cougars, 10-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12 after Tuesday night’s discouraging 72-67 loss to Texas Tech in front of 17,307 at the Marriott Center, are struggling to reach their potential.
As defensive specialist Mag said Tuesday night after scoring 11 points, there are still a lot of games left to be played, and it is way too early to panic. But the Cougars simply cannot afford to lose any more home games to so-so teams if they hope to make it to the Big Dance in March. And they need to play better on the road, beginning Saturday against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I feel like (confidence) is still high. We have all the players we need and all the tools,” Mag said. “I feel like the coaches do a great job of setting the game plan. I feel like just a little adversity has come. There is still a lot left in the season. It is not really about how you start, it is about how you finish.”
Having suffered two straight losses for the first time this season, but having played much better Tuesday at home than it did last Saturday in that 86-55 loss at now-No. 12 Houston, BYU turns its attention to another road game in Texas, this time at TCU (8-6, 1-2). In this league, no road games are easy, as BYU learned last year.
“I feel like we still got enough time and plenty of games to play good ball and win. So yeah, we are going to be ready. Coaches will make sure we have a great game plan and we head to TCU with great confidence, as we should. I feel like you gotta have confidence,” Mag said. “If you go out there without confidence, things might not go well. I feel like we will be fine.”
Asked if BYU’s confidence was dinged after its 14-game home winning streak was snapped, a streak that began last January after a 75-68 loss to No. 4 Houston, junior point guard Dallin Hall replied: “Nope, not at all.”
In a game that featured 15 lead changes and 10 ties, Hall, Mag and Young pointed to a few defensive lapses and BYU’s own inability to make shots that proved to be its undoing.
“I think we were tested a lot with our physicality. I thought we responded well for the most part, especially after that Houston game,” Hall said. “We just gotta stay poised to the finish line. I think there are a couple of things we gotta clean up and then control the things that we can control.”
BYU’s free-throw shooting was seemingly improving after a rocky start back in November, but took a step backward Tuesday as the Cougars went just 12 of 21 (57%) from the charity stripe and missed two front ends on one-and-one opportunities.
BYU’s five 3-pointers was a season-low for 3s and its 5-for-23 (21.7%) effort from beyond the arc was also a season low for 3-point percentage.
“Offensively, I liked how we played,” Young said. “The ball didn’t go in the basket for us from 3. And we gotta make free throws to win close games.”
BYU is shooting 68.7% from the free-throw line, which ranked 266th in the country heading into Wednesday night’s games. Its opponents are shooting 71.2% from the charity stripe.
“Yeah we will be getting up (free throw) reps in practice, but it is just about settling down. The last few games we have been doing good as a team and we kinda had a hiccup today,” Hall said. “It is about just settling in, shooting it with confidence. That is mostly what free-throw shooting is about.”
As far as confidence goes, Hall said that’s one of the things the Cougars can control, especially when shots aren’t falling. Another is getting the right guys to the line; two starters — Catchings and Keita — are shooting less than 50% from the stripe.
“That is what we are about, is not being shaken in our confidence. We know we are a really good team and we have our best basketball ahead of us,” Hall said. “But we got a few things we have to sharpen up, and do it ASAP.”
It probably should be noted that BYU got off to a 1-2 start in the Big 12 last year, including a home loss to Cincinnati, before getting it going and finishing 10-8 in league play. The difference is that BYU was No. 12 in the NET rankings despite that 1-2 start. The Cougars sat at No. 50 on Wednesday, and on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned.
Expectations haven’t been met, but now isn’t the time to panic, Young acknowledged.
“I think every game in this league is going to be a dogfight, and is going to be competitive,” he said. “Every game has a life of its own.”
Every season does, too, and at this point BYU’s isn’t on life support, but there are signs that this team might not be as successful as most people thought it would be.
