Takeaways From BYU’s Gritty Big 12 Road Win At UCF
Feb 1, 2025, 6:10 PM | Updated: Feb 2, 2025, 2:29 pm
BYU basketball is trending up after another road victory. The Cougars took down UCF 81-75 on Saturday afternoon in front of a crowd of 9,152 fans at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando.
Final: BYU 81, UCF 75
Quad One victory on the road.
Four wins in a row for BYU. Cougs should be climbing in Bracketology heading into next week.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
It was a hard-fought game, as neither team led by more than seven points. However, BYU did enough to win and add a coveted Quad One road victory to its NCAA Tournament resume.
“It felt good to get that one. This is a great environment; my first time being here. It’s really impressive down here. They’ve got a good team, Coach Dawkins does a great job and we knew it was going to be a challenge,” BYU coach Kevin Young said on the BYU Sports Network postgame on KSL NewsRadio. “I’m just proud of the way our guys came out of the locker room at halftime. I thought our response was really good.”
Here are some takeaways from BYU’s win over UCF.
BYU basketball is learning how to win close games
After setbacks against Texas Tech and TCU, BYU coaches and players emphasized the importance of winning close games. The following week, they suffered another setback when they lost to Utah in overtime at the Huntsman Center.
Richie Saunders on the ESPN+ broadcast after BYU finds a way to win a close game on the road over UCF:
"We've learned. We've lost some heartbreakers where it was the same thing, but we didn't finish it out. It just shows that we're learning and continuing to grow as a team."
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
Since that setback to the rival Utes, BYU has been undefeated in the previous four games, and the last two victories have been in games by single digits.
During this win streak, BYU has proven they see those losses as valuable lessons for when tight situations arise again.
“We’ve learned [from previous close games],” Saunders said on ESPN+ after the win over UCF. “We’ve lost some heartbreakers where the same thing happened, but it didn’t go our way. We didn’t finish it out. It just shows that we are learning and we’re going to continue to grow and learn.”
Mawot Mag set the tone in the second half
BYU basketball trailed UCF 40-38 at the half. The opening minutes were a tone-setter for the remainder of the game and BYU’s Mawot Mag seized the opportunity.
Mag scored BYU’s first six points as part of an 8-0 run to open the second period.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
The former Rutgers transfer finished the game with 19 points and scored 16 in the second half. He had a career-high five assists to go along with his 19 points.
When Mag signed with BYU out of the Transfer Portal, he was viewed as a defensive specialist, but he’s more than just a defensive guy. Mag’s season got going in non-conference play against Wyoming in December. But his offensive game has evolved in recent games since knocking down a late three against Utah on the road.
Mag has reached double-figures in scoring three times during Big 12 play.
He still won’t be a focal point offensively for BYU moving forward. But Mag’s ability to have a big game on any given night shows the depth and versatility of this team.
3-point Shooting traveled on the road for BYU basketball
BYU knocked down 14 three-pointers in the road win at UCF. The Cougars made 44% of their 32 attempts from beyond the arc. If they hit over 40% from three, they can take down anyone in the Big 12.
Richie Saunders and Trevin Knell combined for 10 of BYU’s 14 threes.
BYU is 5-0 in Big 12 play this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.
Keba Keita showed off his explosive playmaking ability
There are one or two plays every game where you can’t help but say, “Wow,” when watching BYU center Keba Keita.
Those “wow” moments happened quite a bit against UCF.
BYU vs UCF || FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/VpLZCEnDry
— BYU Men’s Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 2, 2025
Keita finished with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The former Utah transfer’s slam dunk in the first half was a thing of beauty. At the end of the game, with BYU only up by five points, he secured victory with a pair of violent blocks.
Lost in all of the highlight-worthy plays, Keita, who is only shooting 45.7% from the free throw line, knocked down a pair of free throws in the game’s final minute.
BYU has to clean up the turnovers
BYU had 17 turnovers in the win at UCF. The Knights started the game slow offensively, but they warmed up once they forced BYU into some turnovers.
Within BYU’s 17 turnovers, UCF had 11 steals. UCF outscored BYU by 10 in points off turnovers on Saturday (18-8).
The Turnovers weren’t as disastrous as other opponents in the Big 12 because UCF likes to get up and down the floor as the fastest-paced team in the Big 12. But moving forward, it’s something that BYU has to clean up.
Freshman guard Egor Demin had five turnovers, followed by Richie Saunders with three, and then another four players had two giveaways apiece.
UCF’s stars were impacted by foul trouble
There was a significant discrepancy regarding foul calls between BYU and UCF in the first half. BYU was whistled for 11 fouls, while UCF had only six. However, within those six, UCF star Keyshawn Hall had three fouls, including a technical foul call.
Those three fouls sidelined Hall for the final 13 minutes in the first half.
Hall entered the game as the leading scorer in Big 12 play, averaging 21.4 points per game.
The former George Mason transfer still finished with 20 points in only 26 minutes of action.
What was interesting is that UCF outscored BYU by six points in those 13 minutes when Hall was on the bench in the first half.
In the second half, senior guard Darius Johnson, who was trying play physical defense on Egor Demin, missed 10 minutes in the second half due to four fouls on him.
Johnson scored 16 points for the Knights in 29 minutes of action.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
