BYU Eyes Momentum Shift as Colorado Comes to Town
The three-point shot has long been BYU’s bread and butter, and head coach Kevin Young knows it. So when the Cougars are cold from deep, it’s not just a shooting slump-it’s a system slowdown. But Young also knows what’s coming once those shots start to fall again.
“When the threes start falling for us, the lid is going to blow off this thing,” he said earlier this week.
That’s the kind of confidence you need in the Big 12, and BYU (18-6, 6-5 Big 12) is looking to build on a gutsy bounce-back win at Baylor when it hosts Colorado on Saturday in Provo. The Cougars snapped a four-game losing skid in Tuesday’s 99-94 win over the Bears, a result that came despite a frigid 3-of-19 performance from beyond the arc.
The numbers might not jump off the page, but the win did. BYU committed just 11 turnovers over its last two games-an encouraging trend for a team that thrives on ball movement and spacing. Young knows that when his team takes care of the ball, the offense hums, even if the three-point shots aren’t falling-yet.
“When you don't turn it over, our offense becomes all the more potent,” Young said.
The Cougars’ season has been a tale of two stretches: a 13-game win streak from late November to mid-January, followed by a rough patch with just two wins in their last seven. But Tuesday’s win showed that BYU isn’t folding. They were down 12 early at Baylor before storming back to tie it by halftime, then trading blows with the Bears in a high-scoring second half.
AJ Dybantsa was electric, pouring in 36 points, while former Baylor guard Robert Wright III added 30 in a return to Waco that was anything but quiet. The duo carried the offensive load on a night when the Cougars’ usual perimeter attack was off-target.
Still, the win was massive-not just for the standings, but for the psyche of a team trying to recalibrate in one of college basketball’s toughest conferences. BYU enters the weekend ranked No. 19 in the NCAA NET rankings, boasting a 5-6 record in Quad 1 games and a perfect 13-0 mark against Quad 2-4 opponents. That profile puts them on solid footing for a tournament bid, but there’s still work to be done.
“There’s always adversity,” Young said. “You aren’t just going to steamroll, especially through the Big 12.
Did I think we’d get to the point of losing four straight? No, I did not.
But honestly, I’m proud of our response. It’s a long season and you’ve got to ride the wave.”
That wave now brings in a Colorado team that’s still searching for consistency. The Buffaloes (14-11, 4-8) have split their last four games but are coming off a brutal 78-44 loss at Texas Tech on Wednesday. Colorado managed just 22 points in each half and shot a dismal 29.1% from the field, including 6-of-25 from deep.
After the game, head coach Tad Boyle didn’t hold back.
“I’m embarrassed by our performance,” Boyle said. “We’ve got to own this.”
Freshman guard Isaiah Johnson was one of the few bright spots, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists. Since moving into the starting lineup, Johnson has seen a slight uptick in production-going from 16.1 points per game off the bench to 16.3 as a starter.
But Colorado’s struggles on the road have been glaring. The Buffaloes are just 1-6 in true road games this season, and Boyle is calling for more toughness from his group.
“We have to play tougher, that’s the bottom line,” he said. “When things get tough and the other team starts making shots and the crowd gets going, we start feeling sorry for ourselves.
Instead of digging in and getting a stop, we can’t make a shot. We’ve got no heart.”
Saturday’s matchup in Provo offers both teams a chance to reset their narrative. For BYU, it’s about building momentum and rediscovering their perimeter rhythm. For Colorado, it’s about proving they can bring the fight on the road.
One thing’s for sure-if BYU starts hitting threes again, that lid Coach Young talked about might just come flying off.