The BYU Cougars, one of the hottest teams in the country, enter the NCAA Tournament with nine wins in their last ten games. They are looking to end their “Big Dance” drought, but can the Cougs overcome the Rams?
First-Year Coach Kevin Young Has BYU Primed For NCAA Tournament
When Mark Pope took his 110-52 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons to alma mater Kentucky last offseason, BYU went into the pro ranks to nab Kevin Young, an associate head coach with the Phoenix Suns from 2021-2024.
Young has kept the Cougars’ prospects pointed upward with another impressive season in the Big 12. BYU, 24-9 overall and winners of nine of their last ten games was selected as the No. 6 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. They head to Denver, Colo., to host No. 11 seed VCU on Thursday.
For the next few days, Young and his staff will work to exorcise BYU’s postseason demons. The team has not won an NCAA Tournament game since 2012, going 0-4. Their opponent, the Rams of VCU, will put everything into extending that dubious streak.
Coach Ryan Odom’s squad tied with George Mason for the Atlantic 10 regular season title before knocking off the Patriots in the conference tournament championship game. This is the third school Odom has led to the Big Dance in seven years, following trips with UMBC and Utah State.
Lucky for him, he brought Max Shulga with him from Utah State. The senior guard from Ukraine was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and is averaging 15 points a game. Classmate Joe Bamisile is also averaging 15 points per game for VCU.
Odom knows how to win in the postseason, leading UMBC to perhaps the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history as the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed when the Retrievers ousted Virginia in 2018. VCU has a history of performing well in the tournament too, headlined by the Shaka Smart-led squad that reached the Final Four in 2011.
This is Young’s first trip, of course, but he has BYU doing what all coaches hope for: their team playing its best basketball as the postseason looms. The Cougars defeated three ranked schools—Arizona, Kansas, and Iowa State (twice)—during their nine-game win streak.
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Young endeavored to create as deep a squad as possible. The result is a roster with 10 players averaging 10 minutes or more that can push the pace. The Cougars are shooting better than 37% from three-point range and averaging 81 points a game. It will be a clash of strengths as the Rams rank ninth in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 62.4 points per contest.
That offensive prowess was on display in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals when BYU made a tournament-record 18 3-pointers in a victory over the Cyclones. However, the team was stifled for the second time this season against the eventual Big 12 Tournament champion in the semifinals. Odom will be sure to watch the tape from both games.
Young is counting on his team’s depth to counteract whatever blueprint Odom concocts to stop the Cougars. Eight BYU players are averaging at least 7.1 points per game, with Richie Saunders leading the way with 16 points per contest. He may just need all of them to end the school’s NCAA Tournament win drought Thursday afternoon.
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