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BYU forward Richie Saunders (15) drives against Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during BYU victory over the Wildcats Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz. | Rick Scuteri, Associated Press
It seems like ages since Providence and Houston bullied Kevin Young’s BYU team around the basketball court like rag dolls.
But now, late in February, BYU (19-8, 10-6) is giving as much or more than they’re taking. They now head to a game at Arizona State in Tempe on Wednesday with some impressive momentum.
The team that boat-raced Kansas last week and took down Arizona in the McKale Center Saturday is a grown-up Big 12 menace, peaking at the right time to make some noise as teams fight for seeding for the league tournament in Kansas City in March.
How big was BYU’s win over Arizona in Tucson? Only No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Houston have pulled that off this year.
This was BYU’s first back-to-back win over top-25 teams since 1988 — 47 years.
After beating No. 23 Kansas and No. 19 Arizona, the Cougars are alone in fifth place, behind No. 5 Houston, No. 9 Texas Tech, No. 19 Arizona and No. 8 Iowa State. They are just ahead of No. 6 Kansas, which is ranked No. 23. In this matrix, BYU is the only team not ranked.
Maybe that will change this week.
BYU just faced two of Ken Pomeroy’s top 10 defenses and scored 187 points in five days.
Unlike in their previous game against Arizona in Provo, the Cougars did not experience an over-five-minute scoring drought after battling toe-to-toe for 32 minutes.
This time, BYU closed it out, even with Arizona scoring nine of their last 12 points from the free-throw line — getting calls, making free throws — and essentially staying in the game on whistles because they were losing trading field goals with Young’s team.
This time the Cougars scored early, scored late, rained down 14 bombs and got a call of their own with 3.2 seconds left, wherein Richie Saunders buried the winning free throws.
This free-throw proficiency is a big deal, making 10 of 14 at…
[ad_2]Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/hunted-hunters-byu-flipped-script-181616800.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2025-02-23 18:16:00
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