BYU Cougars guard Richie Saunders‘ season-ending injury is deemed a serious concern for his team. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, coach Kevin Young’s Cougars lost 68-75 to coach Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats on the latter’s home court, the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona, in one of the most anticipated Big 12 conference matchups.
However, Cougars freshman AJ Dybantsa and his team visibly struggled against the Wildcats. With this, former Wake Forest Demon Deacons standout Randolph Childress went over the “Field of 68” YouTube livestream to share his thoughts on the BYU landscape. Childress believes that Saunders’ setback heavily affects the Cougars moving forward as the NCAA tournament approaches.
“The Richie Saunders injury is brutal for those guys, man. I mean, he was a bucket, and the guy could flat-out score. He took a lot of pressure off AJ, and now you don’t know what you expect out of BYU. I think we all dropped them out of the tier, you know, of Iowa State. They went into that second tier of not Iowa State, not Arizona, not Houston. We knew they were in that second tier,” Childress said.
“But now, you know, that injury puts them, I think, they’re vulnerable now moving forward. They’ll make the tournament, but I don’t know how far they’ll go. They’ll go as far as a great performance by AJ takes them, and even 33 against Arizona was not enough, an Arizona team missing Koa Peat,” he continued.
Saunders suffered a season-ending ACL injury during the Cougars‘ game against Tad Boyle’s Colorado Buffaloes on BYU’s home floor, the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Saturday, Feb. 14. Saunders picked up the injury in the opening minute of the game. But luckily for him and the rest of the BYU faithful, Dybantsa and company hung on to win 90-86.
Arizona Wildcats Outlast BYU Cougars
Richie Saunders had to watch his BYU Cougars squad lose to the Arizona Wildcats by seven points, 75-68.
Despite a box-office outing from AJ Dybantsa with 35 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, the Wildcats were too much for BYU as they maintained their first-half lead into the final period. The Cougars now fall to an overall record of 19-7 (7-6 in Big 12).
Read More: Will Richie Saunders Come Back? All We Know About BYU Star’s Status Post Injury During Colorado Game
Also Read: Richie Saunders Injury Update: BYU Star Shares Heartfelt Message as March Madness Seeding Hopes Take a Hit
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