Cougars brought the kettle to a boil at just the right time

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Utah Utes guard Mike Sharavjamts (25) and Brigham Young Cougars guard Egor Demin (3) fight for possession of the ball during a basketball game at the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, March 8, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News

Bringing water to a boil on a hot stove takes just five to 10 minutes. Getting a basketball team to its boiling point sometimes takes a whole season — but once it’s there, the team is ready to cook.

“I know it’s a cliché, but it’s been our mantra of taking it game by game and day by day. This team has done well keeping a singular focus.”

BYU coach Kevin Young

It has been Kevin Young’s hope all along to have BYU playing its best basketball in March and his No. 17 Cougars enter this week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City as one of the hottest teams in the country.

Not only did BYU shoot way past its ninth-place preseason prediction to finish tied for third in the Big 12, but it is riding the second longest win-streak (eight games) in the league behind No. 2 Houston (10 games).

It was Houston that gave BYU a reality check on Jan. 4 when the red Cougars pounded the visiting Cougars blue — 86-55. The 31-point loss was BYU’s worst of the season, and the hangover lingered in consecutive defeats to Texas Tech in Provo and TCU on the road.

Limping along at 10-5, Young’s staff dug in, and the team responded in the way an NCAA Tournament squad would — by winning 13 of 16 games, cracking the top 20, earning a double-bye into the conference tournament and brandishing a First Team All-Big 12 player (Richie Saunders).

To continue with the kitchen phrase, Young brought the kettle to a boil at just the right time — tournament time, and he’s optimistic.

BYU head coach Kevin Young gestures as BYU and Utah play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday February 8, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

“Teams that advance are teams that show up every day and get better every day,” Young told his group in the…

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Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2025-03-10 23:00:00

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