Big 12 basketball and winter driving share one punishing thing in common — potholes. They show up each February and line a treacherous path to March. Potholes vary in size, but when you hit a big one, it can knock a car, or a team, out of alignment and make it a challenge to stay on the road.
After cruising to four straight conference wins, the Cougars (15-8, 6-6) have hit back-to-back potholes, including a big one Saturday at Cincinnati. The damage is fixable, but BYU is short on time and a long way from the repair shop.
This will be a test for first-year coach Kevin Young and his staff of mechanics as they pull into Morgantown. They will need to work like a pit crew on the clock at Daytona and will have just one practice before getting the Cougars back on the track at West Virginia (15-8, 6-6) on Tuesday night (5 p.m., CBSSN).
Despite getting outshot, outhustled and outrebounded against the Bearcats, the Cougars can take solace in knowing just about everybody else in the Big 12 is also driving a damaged car. The league-wide potholes have teams scattered all over the road.
BYU fans can pull their hair out over Saturday’s second-half performance, where Cincinnati enjoyed an 18-0 run and redeemed itself from a 28-point loss in Provo two weeks earlier; however, Kansas fans are no less distraught after watching the Jayhawks drop their fifth Big 12 game against rival Kansas State — just days after they looked invincible as they pounded No. 8 Iowa State.
Baylor just went through a string of games where it lost at BYU, beat No. 11 Kansas at home and lost at No. 13 Texas Tech. Iowa State beat TCU on Saturday to snap a three-game skid after the Cyclones lost to Arizona and Kansas, but also to Kansas State, 80-61, on their home floor.
Texas Tech went toe-to-toe with No. 20 Arizona before losing Saturday in Tucson, 82-73. The No. 13 Red Raiders resume includes an impressive 82-81 win at No. 6 Houston, but also a head-scratching home loss to UCF.
So far, Houston and Arizona have avoided the biggest potholes and as a result stand atop the Big 12 standings. Everybody else, including BYU, is on a drive to survive and MapQuest shows more rough roads ahead.
After Tuesday’s game at West Virginia, the Cougars host Kansas State (five-game winning streak) and Kansas before traveling to Arizona and Arizona State. In March, BYU will welcome West Virginia and Utah to Provo and travel to Iowa State.
The race to the Big 12 conference tournament is more like the Daytona 500 than it is about basketball. Every team gets physically pounded and banged up, especially on the road. What may matter the most, in this endurance test, is the pit crew — or staff in charge of keeping them on the track — or in the game.
BYU’s problems at Cincinnati came in the form of poor defense, rebounding and 3-point shooting — three areas that will determine how Tuesday’s game goes at West Virginia and every game after that.
Young has one practice on Monday to get the Cougars back in alignment with the style of play that beat Colorado, Cincinnati (the first time), Baylor and UCF. West Virginia is a winnable game, but only if the Cougars can avoid hitting another pothole.
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
