BYU’s new defensive habit is showing up early, and the Cougars don’t need to squint to see the difference.
After last week’s exhibition win over Nebraska, junior guard Collin Chandler didn’t dance around the obvious when asked how much of the offseason work had been devoted to that end of the floor.
“I can answer,” Collin Chandler spoke up. “It’s been the whole focus of practice.”
That’s been the message around Kevin Young’s program, and it comes with a clear purpose. Young’s first two BYU teams could light it up - both finished in the top 25 offensively - but the Cougars have had a much harder time getting stops.
In 2024-25, BYU ranked 206th nationally in points allowed at 72.8 per game and 357th out of 364 teams in 3-pointers allowed at 9.8 per game. The season ended with a Sweet 16 loss to Alabama, which hit 25 threes in a 113-88 blowout.
Last season told a similar story. BYU finished 225th in points allowed at 75.4 and 284th in 3-pointers allowed at 8.5 per game before Texas knocked the Cougars out 79-71 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
There were at least some encouraging signs against Nebraska. BYU held a strong offensive team to 37.3% shooting from the field, forced 18 turnovers and still pulled out a 72-61 victory even though the Huskers made 10 of 24 shots from beyond the arc.
“Every practice is defense,” Chandler said. “It was nice to go out and actually execute what we’ve been working so hard at.
I think that’s what kept us in the game the first half. We obviously didn’t have a great offensive half, but defensively I thought we were actually solid, and elevated that second half.”
The bench brought some edge, too, especially from guards Nate Pickens and Brooks Bahr. Their ball pressure helped turn possessions into turnovers, and Young singled out both for the energy they brought.
“I think with those two guys in particular, that’s the value that they can bring coming in off the bench,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “Brooks is tough as nails, and Nate can guard, too.
I thought their energy, Brooks in particular, really helped us in the second half. It’s something we’ll mix in, for sure.”
Chandler said the work has centered on disrupting passing lanes, creating deflections and staying connected as a group when teams attack the baseline or the post.
“We’ve been working on getting our hands in the passing lanes, deflections and rotating a lot,” Chandler said. “We’ve really been aggressive on defense as teams go baseline and as teams throw it in the post, we’re really aggressive.
It takes a lot of second effort and communication because we do a lot of rotating. It takes a lot of reps and we’re getting a lot of reps in practice.”
That effort will be tested again Saturday when BYU meets UNLV in Las Vegas.
The Cougars and Rebels once had a heated Mountain West rivalry, and UNLV still holds a 19-17 edge in the series. BYU won the most recent meeting 83-50 at the Delta Center in 2019.
UNLV has not reached the NCAA Tournament since 2013, when former BYU assistant Dave Rice was the coach, and the Rebels went 18-17 last season under first-year head coach Josh Pastner. Their roster took a big hit in the offseason after leading scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who averaged 20.7 points and made 101 3-pointers, transferred to Texas Tech, along with seven other players.
The top returning piece is Tyrin Jones, a 6-foot-9 forward from Layton Christian who averaged 11.9 points per game last season. UNLV also added AJ Storr, a guard who is looking for a fifth year of eligibility and his fifth different school after stops at St.
John’s, Wisconsin, Kansas and Ole Miss. Storr averaged 15.5 points per game last season but did not play in the Rebels’ first exhibition, a 79-69 loss to Utah on October 7 at Thomas & Mack Center.
In that game, Sebastian Mack, a 6-4 Missouri transfer, scored 25 points and Florida State transfer Cam Miles added 16.
BYU and UNLV tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. MT at Thomas & Mack Center. Live stats will be available at byucougars.com.
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