BYU Basketball Takeaways From Rivalry Win At Utah
Jan 11, 2026, 1:07 AM | Updated: Jan 12, 2026, 9:46 am
SALT LAKE CITY – For the first time since November 2021, BYU basketball left the Huntsman Center with a victory over rival Utah.
No. 9 BYU knocked off the Utes 89-84 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 15,558 fans in attendance.
The win extends BYU’s win streak to 12 games, as the Cougars improve to 15-1 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play.
Here are some takeaways from BYU’s five-point victory over the rival Utes.
Richie Saunders earned a win at the Huntsman Center
For the first time in his BYU basketball career, Richie Saunders made a postgame walk up the west side tunnel of the Huntsman Center with a victory.
Saunders, who was previously 0-2 against the Utes in Salt Lake City, wanted this win. BYU head coach Kevin Young made it clear to players unfamiliar with the BYU-Utah rivalry that this was an important game for players like Saunders, a Utahn who has witnessed it his whole life.
Saunders followed his career-high 31-point performance against Arizona State with another excellent showing on Saturday against the Utes, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Kevin Young after BYU's 89-84 victory over Utah:
"We said we wanted to win this game for Richie, Keba, J-Mac, and Dawson. I thought Richie and Keba's will in that game was the difference." pic.twitter.com/Lf0yRM40Nw
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 11, 2026
What’s always impressive about Saunders is his efficiency inside the arc. He was 7-of-9 from the two-point range. The three-point shooting was only 2-of-7, but he was relentless on the glass.
You could tell, Saunders was not going to leave that building again with another loss.
Rob Wright III put together one of his best games as a BYU Cougar
The playmaking ability and pace of Rob Wright III were impressive in BYU’s rivalry win over Utah.
Wright finished with 23 points, six assists, and only one turnover.
Late in the second half, with the game still in question, Wright had some key moments, one of which was knocking down two free throws to make the score an 83-80 game. He initially missed a three that went in-and-out inside the rim, and BYU got the offensive rebound. AJ Dybantsa had the ball, turned to Rob again, and the talented guard went right to the rim on the attack.
Wright also had an excellent assist late in the game, where he found Keita for an easy bucket after gathering the pass.
Lack of bench scoring will be an area to monitor
BYU finished Saturday night’s game with only three bench points. Those consisted of two points from Mihailo Boskovic and one point from Abdullah “Biddo” Ahmed. That’s it.
The addition of Ahmed has given BYU more options in the frontcourt, but are there bench players who can consistently provide an offensive spark? To this point, it’s not consistent enough to rely on.
At the end of the day, BYU is going to rely on the stars in Dybantsa, Saunders, and Wright to carry them in games. However, the “Stay Ready” group, as Kevin Young calls them, must elevate their offensive performance when called upon.
One notable grouping from the second unit on Saturday was seeing Ahmed and Khadim Mboup together in the frontcourt for a three-minute stretch in the first half.
Not the greatest night shooting from 3-point range and the free throw line
In a rivalry game, you just want to come out with a win by all means necessary. So that’s the top takeaway for BYU.
But, there was definitely some “money left on the table” with the way BYU shot the basketball from the three-point and free throw lines.
BYU finished 6-of-26 from beyond the arc and was 19-of-29 from the charity stripe. Some of those misses from the free-throw line included misses on the front-end of one-and-ones.
No game in the Big 12 Conference is easy; the battles are only going to get tougher. It could be an X-factor for this BYU squad if they hit the three at a high clip.
The good news for BYU is that despite the struggles from three and the free-throw line, they ended the game shooting 50% from the field. According to BYU’s radio play-by-play voice, Greg Wrubell, BYU has won 38 consecutive games when shooting 50% from the field.
From inside the arc, BYU hit 68.4% of its 38 attempts.
Next up for BYU basketball is a late-night home matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs on Wednesday at 9 p.m. (MST) on ESPN2 and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
