‘Finding some rhythm’: BYU is playing its best basketball, but No. 20 Arizona is biggest test since Houston debacle

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Arizona guard Caleb Love during game against Iowa State, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz. Love and the rest of the No. 20-ranked Wildcats will be in Provo Tuesday night for a late-night affair. | Rick Scuteri, Associated Press

BYU basketball coach Kevin Young woke up Monday morning and told his wife that the Cougars only have 10 regular-season games left in his inaugural season at the helm in Provo.

Melissa Young was just as amazed.

“She was like, ‘What, are you serious?’” the coach said Monday afternoon in his weekly press briefing with reporters. “We are used to (the season) going on forever (in the NBA). … This is crazy, compared to what I was used to.”

The good news is that BYU (15-6, 6-4) is trending in the right direction as its 20-game Big 12 schedule reaches its midpoint. The bad news is that the latter half of the season looks more difficult than the first half, beginning Tuesday night when former Western Athletic Conference rival and new Big 12 member Arizona visits Provo for the first time since Nov. 28, 1998.

The Wildcats (15-6, 9-1) moved back into the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, landing at No. 20 after, like BYU, having won four straight. Arizona knocked off No. 3 Iowa State 86-75 in overtime last Monday thanks to Caleb Love’s past-halfcourt heave to tie it in regulation, then outlasted rival Arizona State 81-72 in a fiery game in Tempe in which Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley refused to have his players shake hands postgame with Arizona players.

Just another day in the Big 12, in which “every game is super intense,” Young said.

Tipoff for the 40th all-time meeting between UofA and BYU is set for 9 p.m. at the Marriott Center, and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN, with Mark Neely and Corey Williams on the call. Yes, you read that right: tipoff is at 9 p.m.

“It is what it is,” Young said of the late tip. “I do kinda like the tip times varying, just because it gets you ready for the postseason. Anything can happen…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/finding-rhythm-byu-playing-best-003000919.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2025-02-04 00:30:00

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