BYU Basketball Opens Big 12 Play Against Arizona State
Dec 30, 2024, 10:12 PM
BYU basketball head coach Kevin Young and his 9-2 team gear up for the Big 12 opener against Arizona State. (Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
(Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The past month has been a light schedule for BYU basketball. However, those days of a slow slate are over.
It’s time for Big 12 Conference play.
After finishing fifth a season ago in the Big 12, BYU begins its second season of Big 12 action against a newcomer in the conference. The Cougars will host Arizona State at the Marriott Center in a Tuesday matinee on New Year’s Eve.
It’s time to take things up a notch 📈 pic.twitter.com/CqkC8ur8CJ
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 30, 2024
BYU enters Big 12 Conference play with a 9-2 overall record, the same as Arizona State. However, not all records are built equally.
Arizona State faced a top-50 nonconference schedule, while BYU’s out-of-league schedule ranked 350 by KenPom out of 364 teams in the country.
Kevin Young’s BYU squad is still unknown due to the light nonconference schedule and the in-and-out nature of personnel dealing with injuries.
However, the roster looks ready for Big 12 play as Egor Demin (knee) and Richie Saunders (concussion) are expected back.
BYU and Arizona State are squaring off as conference foes for the first time since 1978. The two programs met last season in the Vegas Showdown, which ended with a fight. BYU won that game 77-49.
BYU vs. Arizona State: How To Watch, Listen
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Tip-Off: 2 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM – Pregame begins at 1 p.m.)
Basketball looks to “carry the torch” of momentum within BYU athletics
BYU athletics is experiencing a wave of momentum with the revenue-generating sports. The football team ended an 11-win season over the weekend after defeating Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
Earlier this month, Kevin Young’s BYU basketball program signed AJ Dybantsa, the nation’s top recruit.
THIS WEEK pic.twitter.com/nez6oyC6Wb
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) December 30, 2024
On Monday, during a Zoom call with reporters, KSL Sports’ Matt Baiamonte asked Young for his views on BYU athletics’ recent successes.
“I think it’s incredible. Kalani has done an amazing job with the football team; super impressive bowl win there. Someone sent me something where AJ Dybantsa on his Instagram had the BYU football as one of his posts. The excitement around, not just what they’re doing or not just what we’re doing, and then you can go into cross country and track and field, and just kind of keep going down the list. There are a lot of cool things happening at this university.
“It’s a credit to Tom (Holmoe) and Brian (Santiago) and President (Shane) Reese, and Keith (Vorkink) and everyone in the leadership team here that has put together a really outstanding athletic department to go along with a really outstanding university. So I’m just happy to be a part of it. It’s exciting. I’m hoping that we can kinda carry the torch now that football is over and we can kinda keep this momentum going.”
What to know about BYU Basketball
BYU enters conference play averaging 85.6 points per game, which is good for 22nd nationally. The Cougars are 11th in the nation in scoring margin at 20.9 point margin.
Three-point shooting is a strength for BYU, as they are eighth in the country in threes per game. Kevin Young’s squad averages 11 made threes per game. Trevin Knell leads BYU in most three-pointers made through nonconference action with 26, followed by freshman Kanon Catchings with 22.
BYU’s biggest strength entering Big 12 action is its ability to rebound. At 13.5, it is second in the country in rebound margin. The leading rebounders are Keba Keita (9.0) and Fousseyni Traore (6.9).
The top eight players in the BYU rotation have emerged
Kevin Young has shown a willingness to play up to 11 players on his roster in a game. However, as conference play tips off, how will the rotation be handled going forward?
“That will be streamlined a little bit,” Young said. “I still think we have some internal competitions that are going on for some of the probably nine and 10 areas. Some guys have stepped up when they’ve got an opportunity. So there will still be some competition going on, but we do feel like our top eight guys have sort of emerged.”
Based on the minutes per game, BYU’s top eight include Egor Demin, Dallin Hall, Kanon Catchings, Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell, Keba Keita, Dawson Baker, and Fousseyni Traore.
The nine and ten spots based on minutes would be Mihailo Boskovic and Mawot Mag.
Getting to know the Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona State continues to be led by head coach Bobby Hurley, who is in his 10th season leading the Sun Devils.
Kevin Young was asked if he looked up to Hurley as a player. Young said he “was never a big Duke guy,” so the first-year BYU coach didn’t look up to him while growing up.
The first-year BYU coach added that he met Hurley at Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City for the first time and has respect for the start the Sun Devils have had in their season, defeating some quality opponents.
Arizona State was 3-0 against Quad 2 opponents in their 9-2 start. The only losses were against two teams currently in the AP Top 25 (Florida and Gonzaga).
Freshmen lead the way for Arizona State
Most of the Big 12 is built around veteran leaders, but similar to BYU, the Sun Devils have a pair of talented freshmen.
Those players are guard Joson Sanon and forward Jayden Quaintance.
Only the Beginning 😈
Jayden Quaintance recorded his 3️⃣rd double-double of the season to earn @Big12Conference Newcomer of the Week 🔱@qjayhoops /// @TheSunDevils pic.twitter.com/LG6TJkluN6
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) December 29, 2024
Quaintance was a five-star prospect in the class of 2024, and Sanon was a top-25 recruit.
The 6-foot-9 Quaintance is only 17 years old and not eligible for the NBA draft until 2026. He leads the Sun Devils in rebounding at 8.3 boards per game.
Joson Sanon is leading ASU in scoring at 14 points per game.
“I’m pretty familiar with both of them. Joson can really score the ball,” Young said. “He’s a guy that’s been extremely efficient, one of the most efficient shooters in college basketball to start the season. He can go off for 30 on any given night, so we’ll have to pay a lot of attention to him.
“Quaintance, man, that kid’s gifted. He’s super long, super athletic. He kind of reminds me of Draymond Green defensively, where he just kind of is a one-man wrecking crew out there.”
Young added on Quaintance, “He’s interesting because, with Joson, they’re clearly running stuff for him to get going. With Quaintance, he just makes it happen. He just gets it out of the mud and it’s hard to prepare for guys like that because you can’t really scheme for that. You’ve got to play harder than he does.”
BYU vs. Arizona State: By The Numbers
BYU (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)
NET: 45
KenPom: 43
BPI: 32
Home Record: 7-0
Leading Scorer: Egor Demin (13.3)
Top Rebounder: Keba Keita (9.0)
Assists Leader: Egor Demin (5.8)
Scoring Offense: 85.6
Scoring Defense: 64.7
Arizona State (9-2, 0-0 Big 12)
NET: 51
KenPom: 55
BPI: 63
Road Record: 0-1
Leading Scorer: Joson Sanon (14.0)
Top Rebounder: Jayden Quaintance (8.3)
Assists Leader: Alston Mason (3.5)
Scoring Offense: 78.5
Scoring Defense: 71.4
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.
