Two years in the Big 12, two years in the NCAA Tournament.
BYU is settling in just fine to its new digs among basketball powerhouses. The Cougars followed a 23-win season with 24 wins and counting.
They were rewarded with a six-seed and a first-round date with Virginia Commonwealth University, or VCU, on Thursday (2:05 p.m. MDT, TNT). The game will be in Denver.
If BYU were to win the first-round matchup, it’d play the winner of No. 3 Wisconsin or No. 14 Montana on Saturday.
“Excited, regardless of what seed we got,” head coach Kevin Young said. “I’ve always been a huge fan of March Madness my whole life as a kid, and an adult. To be able to be a part of it, it’s surreal to be honest with you to hear our name called on the show. Like that we are in Denver and close to home.”
BYU might be one of the hottest in the country coming into the tournament. Before losing to Houston in the Big 12 semifinals, the Cougars won nine-straight games and knocked off four top 25 teams in a row. It dealt two losses to Iowa State, one to Arizona and then dispatched Kansas by 34 points.
It was the best stretch of basketball in the last decade of the program.
Young took Mark Pope’s offensive style and leveled up BYU’s efficiency. The Cougars are averaging almost 82 points per game and shooting almost 38% from three. But what is different about Young’s team is it can also attack the rim with a deep bench of scorers.
On a given night, Young might play 11 men when healthy. It helped BYU wear down teams like Iowa State, knocking them off in Ames in a rare road win.
BYU is led by Richie Saunders, a junior guard who has morphed into a fringe NBA prospect this year. It also has Dallin Hall, a veteran guard coming off the bench who stabilizes the Cougars’ offense and finishes games.
Egor Demin is BYU’s marquee NBA candidate, a potential lottery pick.
BYU has some familiarity with VCU. Ryan Odom is now leading the Rams, who was once Utah State’s head coach. His best player, Max Shulga, transferred from Utah State to VCU when Odom took the job. Shulga is the Atlantic 10 player of the year.
Some veteran players on BYU’s roster, like shooting guard Trevin Knell, played against Odom and Shulga at Utah State.
“He’s a really good player,” Knell said. “But they are a completely different team [than USU was] and it’s going to be a good matchup. We feel like we are battle tested.”
Last year, BYU lost to Duquesne 71-67 in the first round.
Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
