The BYU basketball team has been struggling of late. BYU was able to post a win on Saturday, though, over the Colorado Buffaloes. In that game, the Cougars lost star Richie Saunders to injury.
Saunders went down with a lower leg injury in the first minute of the game. He awkwardly fell while driving to the rim. BYU head coach Kevin Young said it was tough for his team to overcome that injury.
“I think it sucked the life out of the gym, if I'm being honest,” Young said, per the Associated Press. “You never want to see an injury to any player, but definitely [not] to someone who's the heart and soul of our team [and] bleeds BYU blue. Just didn't like seeing it.”
Saunders is the team's second leading scorer, behind freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa. Following BYU's 90-86 overtime win over Colorado, the Cougars are now 19-6 on the season.
BYU basketball is looking to put some victories together
The Cougars have been one of the strongest teams in the Big 12 conference this season. Things though have gone awry in recent weeks for the team. BYU had lost four games in a row, before finally pulling out a victory over Baylor on February 10.
BYU has now won back-to-back games. Cougars fans hope that Saunders is able to return very soon from his injury. He is averaging close to 19 points per game this season.
The Cougars were able to find a way to win without Saunders on Saturday. BYU basketball shot 50 percent from three-point range in the game. It was a tough loss for Colorado.
“That was a heck of a college basketball game. I’m really, really proud of our guys,” Colorado head coach Tad Boyle said, per Deseret News. “We got spanked and punched in the face on Wednesday against Texas Tech. But (against BYU) I felt like we were aggressive the whole game, and we fought like a team I’m proud of representing.”
BYU basketball next plays at Arizona on Wednesday.
