BYU Basketball Clicked On All Cylinders In Colorado Win
Jan 22, 2025, 2:35 AM
BYU basketball center Keba Keita soars for a slam dunk on January 21, 2025, in a win over Colorado. (Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
(Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
BOULDER, Colo. – Nothing has come easy for BYU basketball during the 2024-25 season.
Another example was Tuesday’s 83-67 win over Colorado. In the first half, BYU was down 10, 32-22, and in danger of another road loss.
Big win for BYU on the road at Colorado. pic.twitter.com/BQ5b3G96LB
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 22, 2025
“It’s just been the moral of the story of our season, right? We’ve talked a lot about this in practice, going into this [Colorado game], we gotta find solutions,” said BYU wing Richie Saunders.
Saunders was a significant part of those solutions, scoring seven consecutive points when BYU was down 10.
The junior out of Riverton ended up with a game-high 25 points to lead BYU to a victory days after an overtime loss to Utah at the Huntsman Center.
That offensive spark spread to the rest of the team as BYU put together a 39-6 run on the Buffs.
Those solutions that BYU discovered when faced with a double-digit deficit produced some of the best basketball BYU has played under first-year coach Kevin Young.
BYU coach Kevin Young after the win over Colorado:
“I’m just proud of our guys for coming together at halftime and just saying, ‘We’re gonna go find a way to win it.’” pic.twitter.com/pWKkARgfmK
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 22, 2025
Kevin Young earns first road win as BYU basketball head coach
“I put it up there, maybe as high as it goes,” Young said after he earned his first road victory as BYU’s head coach. “I thought we were clicking on all cylinders.
“It was really two-fold: One, we were getting stops, we were holding them to one shot. We were getting out in transition and then these guys were executing like crazy. Trevin (Knell) hit however many threes in a row, and these guys were screening for him and passing the ball. It was fun.”
Knell finished with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range.
BYU’s starting five scored 64 of the Cougars’ 83 points. Mawot Mag had 11 points, Keba Keita contributed six points, which included some high-flying alley-oop dunks, and Egor Demin was on the attack with an eight-point, seven-assist night.
The scout on Colorado
The Cougars take down a Colorado team that looks to be comfortably in the cellar of the Big 12 this season as they drop to 0-7 in their first year back in the league.
“We wanted to make them beat us from three with contested threes,” Young said on the game plan against Colorado.
“I thought our guys didn’t get derailed and that’s part of the reason why they got the lead. They hit shots. And that’s not something that has been a calling card of theirs. … But, you know, I thought in the second half, our zone was good. It was effective. We kept them out of the paint and kept them away from the rim.”
BYU will look to ‘bottle up’ success from win in future road games
Colorado isn’t a great team. That was evident on Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 6,166 fans, many of whom in attendance were wearing royal blue and cheering on BYU.
BYU fans showed up in Boulder. pic.twitter.com/LICR8AqT12
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 22, 2025
But for this BYU squad that has struggled to get breakthrough victories. At this point of the season, it’s a moment that could serve as a turning point and a blueprint that when it’s clicking at a high level, they have a chance to play their best ball in March.
“I get that there are obviously differences on the road. But what you have to do is that you have to focus even harder,” said Young. “We focused on the game plan very well tonight. That’s something we can certainly bottle up and take with us when we get back on the road after this.”
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.
