BYU Basketball Complete Big 12 Road Swing At Colorado
Jan 21, 2025, 12:37 AM | Updated: 12:53 am
BYU basketball head coach Kevin Young remains confident in his team as they get set to take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Big 12 play. (Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
(Brice Tucker, Deseret News)
BOULDER, Colo. – BYU basketball desperately needs a win in a deep Big 12 Conference.
Another team that badly needs a win in Big 12 play is Colorado.
Both teams will play on Tuesday night in Boulder. The late-night matchup will be broadcast on ESPNU and KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM) at 9 p.m. (MST).
BYU comes into the game with a 2-4 record in Big 12 play; Colorado is the league’s lone winless team.
Related: Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings: Week 12 of 2024-25 season
Will this be the game where BYU breaks through and gets its first road win under head coach Kevin Young?
BYU is 0-4 in true road games this season.
As the Cougars fall further away from the bracket in Bracketology projections, it would be a good time to earn that first road win sooner rather than later.
BYU/Colorado: Series History
Tuesday night will be the 26th all-time meeting between BYU and Colorado. The two programs used to be in the Rocky Mountain Conference together. Since the 1950s, they’ve only played twice, which was a home-and-home in 2015 and 2016.
BYU won the game in Provo in 2016.
The Buffs are 13-1 all-time over BYU in Boulder, dating back to 1902.
BYU basketball believes they are “right there” to start winning games
BYU has lost three of its previous four games, with the most recent setback being an overtime loss at rival Utah at the Huntsman Center last Saturday.
Head coach Kevin Young remains confident that his team can get back in the win column.
“I think we have had a great sense of urgency. I don’t think that’s been something where we’ve fallen short. When losses stack up, things naturally get a little bit tighter,” Young said. “I want our guys to know how confident we are in them. We feel like we’re right there.
“I said the other night after the [Utah] game, we’ve come up short. We’ve come up short too much. So I think the fact that we’re in all of these games we’ve give ourselves a chance to win all of these games, it should give our guys confidence.”
Personnel notes
The final shots in BYU’s loss at Utah went to Dawson Baker, who BYU coaches dialed up a play call for in the overtime period. Then Egor Demin had a last-second heave on a broken-up play.
BYU is still searching for that go-to player late in games.
Kevin Young has said previously he feels confident that he has many guys on his roster who could step up and be that guy on any given night. But as the season progresses, do the Cougars turn to veterans such as Dallin Hall in a late-game situation if the game is on the line?
BYU’s last road win was at Kansas in 2024. Hall was the player who hit the game-winning shot late in that contest over Hunter Dickinson to give BYU the upset.
However, Hall struggled offensively at Utah, as did many BYU players against the Utes. The junior guard was 0-for-5 from the field in the rivalry loss.
Freshman guard Egor Demin had nine points, six rebounds, and two assists at Utah.
Fellow freshman Kanon Catchings continues to struggle on the offensive end. He has been coming off the bench for the past two games.
Kevin Young praised Catchings’ defensive efforts in Utah. He had a career-high three steals. Offensively, he took six shots but only made one.
“…I thought he made two defensive mistakes early on, but I thought he came in and fixed that. He didn’t make shots at the level that he’s used to. That obviously would have been nice. But I did think he took a step in the right direction defensively,” said Kevin Young. “I think he’s actually played with more physicality the last couple of games defensively. So that’s where my head is at with Kanon.”
Getting to know the Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado is the lone winless team in the Big 12 standings, starting league play at 0-6 in their first year back to the league they called home for decades before leaving for the PAC-10 in 2011.
The Buffs’ last loss was at Oklahoma State, where the Pokes attempted a Big 12-high 42 free throws to Colorado’s 25. Colorado lost the game 83-73.
Tad Boyle is the winningest coach in Colorado basketball history, with 307 victories in his 15 years in Boulder.
All three of Colorado’s previous Big 12 home games have been by 10 points or less. They’ve dug themselves in deep holes before making a run to get back in it, but have been unable to get over the hump.
Last week, Boyle made a change to Colorado’s starting lineup, inserting 6-foot-11 sophomore Bangot Dak. The second-year player averaged 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 blocks, 1.5 assists, and 1.0 assists in last week’s two games. Against Cincinnati, Dak had eight blocked shots.
Senior guard Julian Hammond leads the Buffs in scoring with 13.5 points per game and has started every game for Colorado this year.
Like BYU, Colorado has experienced turnover issues during Big 12 play. The Buffs are dead last in the league with a -5.17 turnover margin, while BYU is 13th in conference action with a -2.0 turnover margin.
BYU vs. Colorado
Date: January 21, 2025
Location: CU Events Center
Tip-Off: 9 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPNU
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)
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.
