BYU’s defense is to blame for 3 consecutive losses. What’s gone wrong?

BYU’s offense did its job Wednesday night.

Yes, the Cougars turned the ball over too much, but they also shot 50% from the field, 43% from 3-point range and scored 92 points, which is all typically more than enough offensive firepower to capture road wins in the Big 12.

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But instead of picking up a much-needed, stabilizing Quad 1 victory at Oklahoma State, BYU found itself on the wrong end of a memorable 99-92 upset, as the Cougars’ defense completely whiffed against the Cowboys.

BYU offered little resistance against the Cowboys, who drove downhill all night to score 52 points in the paint — something a frustrated Kevin Young repeatedly mentioned to reporters following the loss, and an increase of more than 20 points from BYU’s previous season average of paint points allowed.

In the second half alone, Oklahoma State scored 58 points at a blistering average of 1.57 points per possession. Every time the Cowboys had the ball after halftime, they ended up 1.57 points richer, with BYU only stopping them 24.3% of the time.

According to the defensive analytics provided by StatBroadcast, neither AJ Dybantsa nor Richie Saunders, two typically solid defenders, recorded a single defensive stop against Oklahoma State. Every time the Cowboys targeted Dybantsa or Saunders, they scored.

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BYU’s remaining starters weren’t much better on the defensive end. When Rob Wright III, Kennard Davis Jr. and Keba Keita were on the floor, Oklahoma State averaged 153.4, 148.8 and 146.8 points per 100 possessions each, respectively.

Not great, Bob.

“Our defense, it was terrible,” Young said after the loss. “They had 52 points in the paint. They scored at will. We couldn’t keep anyone in front of us, and it was just a layup fest.”

Young later added, “We couldn’t guard the ball. We got too spread out. That’s way too many, you know, 52 points in the paint, it’s not good, right? And then attention to detail, that’s something that our team has struggled with … but more than anything, just our one-on-one defense was abysmal.”

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Wednesday’s letdown was the loudest example of BYU’s most troubling recent trend — a widespread defensive plunge.

As noted by broadcaster Greg Wrubell on X, the Cougars ranked No. 17 nationally in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric back on Jan. 5. Just a month later, BYU has plummeted 25 spots to No. 42.