Bruce Branch III didn’t need long to show why BYU is betting big on him.
After a quieter debut in the Cougars’ 94-83 win over Ohio State, the freshman forward answered with a sharper, more complete performance Friday night in BYU’s 108-67 blowout of Omaha at the Marriott Center. Branch finished with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 4 from deep, and added six rebounds, two blocks and two assists.
He said the difference came down to patience.
“One of the biggest things was I was forcing a lot, not letting the game just come to me,” Branch said. “It was more of selfish thing.
I would always realize that in the second half, and that’s why I would kind of play better. But for this game especially, I wasn’t forcing anything.
I was really focused on defense, defending and rebounding. I had a better game than the last two, so I’m proud of myself.”
That defensive edge is exactly what Kevin Young believes can make Branch special. After the win, the BYU coach said he sees a player with real game-changing potential on that end of the floor.
“I had a good conversation with Bruce this morning at shootaround,” Young said after the Omaha win. “I felt like he was pressing a little bit.
I felt like he did a good job picking his spots. But the thing he can always do, no matter what goes on in the offensive end, is that he plays defense.
He has defensive player of the year potential on that end of the floor. His rebounding allowed us to get out in transition and get some easy ones.
He’s young and interpreting on the fly, so I’m really happy for him right now.”
Branch’s role at BYU comes with obvious pressure, because the Cougars have already shown they can turn elite freshmen into NBA lottery picks. AJ Dybantsa arrived in Provo in December of 2024 as the nation’s top recruit, announced his decision on ESPN’s First Take and then backed it up with a season that led the nation in scoring, earned first team All-America honors and ended with him going No. 1 in June’s NBA Draft to the Washington Wizards.
Young sees some overlap in how he coaches both players, even if their games are not the same.
“There are similarities,” Young said. “They’re both really good defenders.
I think Bruce can be elite on that end of the floor, and they’re both really good rebounders. AJ is obviously more of a scorer, where I think Bruce is just a little bit more cerebral.
He makes plays a little bit more opportunistically with his scoring combined with his playmaking.
“He’s a guy that I think we’re just going to ride the wave with throughout the course of the year. He’s not just a freshman, he’s a young freshman (Branch just turned 18 in October), and so for him to be able to make plays down the stretch in a big game on opening night, I’m excited to see where he can get to as the season progresses.”
Young has already seen this formula work once before at BYU. In his first season, he helped develop Egor Demin into a lottery pick for the Brooklyn Nets, and now he’s trying to do the same with Branch.
“They (Dybantsa and Branch) are diferent players, but I think more than anything, we found some success with having those guys get to campus as soon as they can,” Young said. “They don’t just show up when the first official practice starts.
Bruce had a lot of runway. His body looks really good compared to when we first got him.
We did a similar thing with AJ that I thought really helped him. So that was something that we kind of took from that blueprint.”
BYU’s next opponent brings a different kind of test. Queens, which went 21-14 last season and finished third in the Atlantic Sun before winning the conference tournament and earning a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament, comes in at 2-1.
The Royals were picked to win the CSUN in the preseason poll, with sophomore guard Jordan Watford and senior forward Avantae Parker landing on the preseason all-league team. Parker was also named preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Queens has already beaten Winthrop 103-98 behind Watford’s 26 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and it picked up a 96-95 road win at LMU with Nasir Mann scoring 28. The Royals also lost at Oklahoma State 118-68 last Friday and have five power conference games on the schedule, including trips to LSU, Houston and Baylor after the BYU game.
There’s also a familiar face in the Queens orbit. Bobby Horodyski, who served as director of operations under Mark Pope at BYU for four seasons, left for an assistant coaching job at Queens in 2023.
He later joined Western Michigan this spring under former BYU assistant Kahil Fennell, and that Broncos roster includes three Utahns: Tanner Hayhurst, Mason Bendigner of Salt Lake City and Isaac Finlinson of St. George.
Queens visits No. X BYU on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
MT at the Marriott Center. The game will air on ESPN+, with radio coverage on BYU Radio.
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