How equipped is No. 17 BYU for a lengthy NCAA Tournament run

CBS Sports’ in-studio analyst Seth Davis is picking No. 6 seed BYU to make it all the way to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.

“I will try to continue to beat that drum. Like I said after that (Houston) game, everything just becomes harder when all the chips are in the middle.”

—  BYU coach Kevin Young

Another CBS employee, Jon Rothstein, picked No. 11 seed VCU to upset the Cougars in the first round Thursday (2:05 p.m. MDT, approximately) in Denver.

Former national championship-winning Villanova coach Jay Wright, who also works for CBS now, said he was bullish on BYU making a deep run until he saw that BYU faces another Atlantic 10 champion, 28-6 VCU, after having been upset by 2024 A-10 champ Duquesne last year.

The Hall of Fame coach said that’s a bad matchup for BYU, which was also a No. 6 seed last year when it arguably should have been a No. 5 seed — given that its overall ranking on the selection committee’s S-curve rankings was 17.

So Big Dance expectations for BYU (24-9), which remained at No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday after it downed Iowa State and lost to Houston in the Big 12 tournament last week, are all over the map.

Why?

One theory is that BYU simply does not play well in March Madness, for whatever reason.

BYU is 15-34 all-time in the tournament, and 3-3 as a six seed. The Cougars have disappointed their large national fan base time and again in March — even after the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season when they were a six seed and lost in Indianapolis to UCLA.

They haven’t defeated a single-digit seed since a Shawn Bradley-led 61-48 win over seventh-seeded Virginia in Salt Lake City in 1991.

Well, first-year BYU coach Kevin Young could not care less about any of that, the 43-year-old former NBA assistant said Sunday after the field of 68 and the pairings and seedings were announced.

“We feel like we are battle-tested. We feel like we have been through a lot. We have a lot of reference points (of success),” he said. “We feel like the momentum that we had (nine-game winning streak) was slowed down against Houston. Give them credit. They outplayed us. We did not play a good basketball game in that particular game. But prior to that the confidence our guys were playing with is something we will rely on.”

The Cougars are coming off a 74-54 loss to Houston in the Big 12 semifinals in which BYU fell behind 15-0 and was overwhelmed by UH’s sticky, aggressive, pressure defense. VCU is also an outstanding defensive team, but Young is banking on the belief that the Rams are not at Houston’s level.

No other team in college basketball is, he says.

“As it relates to the Houston game, I think probably the No. 1 thing (that led to the loss) is the carelessness with the ball. We gotta make sure that we are taking care of that basketball, not being loose with it. That’s kinda where we got into a little bit of trouble in that game,” he said. “And then making simple plays. … We got away from it a little bit.”

So how can the Cougars avoid history repeating itself, be it last week or last year? Is BYU more equipped to make a dent in the bracket this year?

Outstanding guard play becomes critical this time of year, particularly point guard play. The Cougars have been up and down in that position, even as they knocked off the likes of Arizona, Iowa State (twice), Kansas and West Virginia (twice) in their nine-game winning streak.

Freshman Egor Demin struggled against Houston’s pressure, committing five turnovers in 25 minutes and going 2 of 9 from the field. He did have four assists. Young went with the more sure-handed Dallin Hall at the end of both halves, or played them together.

Clearly, Demin will need to up his game the second half of March if BYU wants to get back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.

“One thing I have tried to do is just address the elephant in the room. I try to be as honest as I can with our players, to try to get ahead of things,” Young said, while acknowledging he probably won’t change his starting lineup, or rotations, in Denver this week. “I will try to continue to beat that drum. Like I said after that (Houston) game, everything just becomes harder when all the chips are in the middle.

“Everything that you do is harder. Every pass you make is harder to make. Every screen is harder to get through, and things like that,” Young continued. “That is the level of focus and competition that I want our guys to wrap their head around. … I think it will be a constant reminder as we prepare for this game.”

The coach said he probably won’t shrink his 10-man rotation (11-man if freshman Kanon Catchings is cleared to play) because to date it has served the Cougars well.

“On a given night, certain styles are better than others; certain rotations are better than others,” he said.

Reserve guards Dawson Baker and Trey Stewart are also nursing lower-leg ailments, but haven’t missed any playing time because of them. Young said Sunday that Catchings is still “day to day” with a left knee strain but has been working out daily and improving.

“We are kinda trying to move him along. Like any injury we have here, we try to do what is best for the athlete,” Young said. “And we are in constant communication with how he is feeling with him and our training staff, and that is where things lie with him.”

Senior guard Trevin Knell, who will be playing in his third NCAA Tournament, said every position is important in the Big Dance. Like Duquesne last year, VCU has excellent guards — most notably former Utah State star Max Shulga, the A-10 Player of the Year.

“When it comes down to it, guard play is huge. The front court is huge. Your whole team is huge. The bench energy is huge. So when you go into a tournament that is a one-and-done game, the intensity is higher, the level of detail is a little more intense,” Knell said.

“I think it is just whoever wants it more, and whoever is going to come in with the best energy is going to come out with the win. … We have been through a lot. We started conference 1-3 and 2-4 and were able to go on a really remarkable stretch.”

Knell said the Cougars are “sticking to the present this year” and not dwelling on last year’s stumble in Omaha.

“We just have different dudes on this team. I feel like we are a whole different team than last year. We have a lot of blue-collar guys, with Trey and Mo (Mag), their athleticism, and Keba (Keita), and just our (improved) shooting ability.”