A lot of the national narrative after unranked BYU demolished No. 23 Kansas 91-57 in front of 17,978 at the deliriously hopping Marriott Center on Tuesday night centered around how far the college basketball blue blood has fallen the past few years.
And for good reason, because it was the largest margin of loss in a regular-season game in the Bill Self era. BYU (18-8, 9-6) led by as many as 38 points in the second half and was the only team in the past seven years to lead Kansas by more than 35.
It was an utter dismantling from the opening tip to the time BYU center Keba Keita — supposedly overshadowed by KU’s Hunter Dickinson — spiked an offering into the third row.
But don’t forget what it meant to BYU, whose fans circled this game on the calendar the very moment the Cougars were invited to compete in the Big 12.
It is easily first-year BYU coach Kevin Young’s first signature win, and one that almost certainly will pay dividends in March, coming as it did with the NBA on its All-Star break and on ESPN.
“I thought we were awful, and I thought they were great. I think BYU could have beat anybody tonight. They were great,” said a gracious Self postgame, “and then we didn’t do anything to make them play less than great.”
Later, Self added: “That is the best anybody has played against us this year.”
Now that’s saying something, given that Rock Chalk faced North Carolina, Michigan State, Duke, Missouri and NC State in non-conference games before going against other Big 12 powers such as Iowa State (twice), Houston and Baylor.
Unbelievably, Kansas downed now-No. 3 Duke 75-72 on a neutral court in Las Vegas in November.
How the mighty have fallen — that’s one explanation.
Here’s another, from BYU guard Dallin Hall: “We are hitting our stride and trying to put the country on notice.”
Then there’s Young’s assessment: “I have told our guys this a lot: We are a good team. They thought we were good, but I don’t know if they thought we could be an elite team.”
Is BYU, which has won three straight after losing by 18 at mediocre Cincinnati, really that elite? Maybe, maybe not. Go out and beat No. 19 Arizona on Saturday in Tucson, and we will talk.
“The two biggest things for our team is if we can rebound and not turn the ball over, we can beat any team in the country. I really mean that,” Young said. “We just gotta continue to work on that.”
Tuesday was the largest margin a victory over a ranked team in BYU history. The 91 points were the most allowed by Kansas, the best defensive team in the Big 12, in a regulation game this season.
For the second straight game, Kansas never had a lead, having trailed wire-to-wire in last Saturday’s 74-67 loss at Utah. Trevin Knell opened the onslaught with a 3-pointer from the corner, Mawot Mag made a layup and Richie Saunders buried another 3 before two minutes were gone in the game, giving BYU a quick 8-0 lead.
Kansas cut the deficit to 25-17 on a 3-pointer by Rylan Griffen with 8:41 left in the first half during a span in which BYU went nearly six minutes without a field goal.
But Mag (13 points) hit a trey and then Saunders (22 points) sandwiched eight points around a Trey Stewart free throw, and the Jayhawks were toast.
BYU took a 46-26 halftime lead, then went on a 10-0 run early in the second half to erase any thoughts of a comeback by the visitors.
“We didn’t make our shots, and they made their shots even when we did an average job defensively, and that contributed to the bad start as much as anything,” Self said.
“… They made some open shots. … I will bet you some of those shots they made were not the highest percentage shots they can get. They just made them.”
BYU made 10 3-pointers in the first half, 14 in the game (on 36 attempts) and finished shooting 52% from the floor. It was similar to the way BYU upset Kansas last year at Phog Allen. The Cougars, obviously under a new regime, dared Kansas to beat them from the outside, packing the paint around Dickinson, and the visitors simply couldn’t do it. Kansas, the worst 3-point shooting team in the league, was 9 of 32 from deep (28%).
BYU also controlled the boards (42-34) and forced 15 turnovers, while committing only 10 giveaways.
So Kansas’ first-ever game in the Marriott Center (KU’s 1960 visit was played at the Smith Fieldhouse) was entirely forgettable for its massive fan base, but at least the place left a good impression on its coach.
“Well, we were so poor, I don’t think we felt the full energy of the building had it been a tight game,” Self said. “But I love this place. It is great.
“It is classy, it is clean. There are a lot of good things about it. The fans are actually as close to you, in my opinion, of any place we play in our league. … They have done a remarkable job with this place, and they have really good players playing on it.”
Another stat that should be mentioned is that BYU assisted on 24 of its 34 baskets. Remarkably, the Cougars had assists on all 15 of their first-half field goals, which has to be some sort of a record.
“The energy from the start of the whistle to the end of the whistle was there,” said Knell, who became the 54th player in BYU history to score more than 1,000 points in a career.
“Hats off to the entire team. It was a total team win. It was a really special win, for sure.”
Against a program that used to be special, but maybe no longer can call itself that.
