BYU has opened its Big 12 tournament run with two straight wins. Still, it was a difficult end of the season for the Cougars, after Richie Saunders went down for the year with an injury.
Now, BYU head coach Kevin Young is speaking of the dark moments of reflection after Saunders went down with his injury, per Jarom Jordan of BYU Sports Nation.
“We had a moment where I personally had to look myself in the mirror after that east coast trip (UCF in Provo then at West Virginia and Cincinnati),” Young said.
Saunders went down during the game against Colorado on Feb. 14. That game would end in an overtime victory for BYU, but they would lose four of their next five, including three straight to UCF, West Virginia, and Cincinnati.
“That was a dark moment for our season. I had to just figure out…we have too much talent. Let's figure this out even without Richie. We took it back to the basics and we just dumbed it down with our defense. Got it a lot less coachy and a lot more ‘just do it harder, longer, stronger, faster' and kept it simple,” Young added.
Since the three-game losing streak, play has been better. BYU knocked off Texas Tech to end the regular season. They then knocked off Kansas State, with the help of AJ Dybantsa scoring 40 points. They would follow up the Kansas State win with a 68-48 victory over West Virginia in second round.
On Thursday, they will face the two-seed in the Big 12, Houston, with a chance to move on to the semifinals.
