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Kansas guard Elmarko Jackson (13) shoots over BYU guard Richie Saunders (15) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Lawrence, Kan.

Charlie Riedel, AP Photo

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BYU guard Dallin Hall enters a sea of Cougar fans at the Provo Airport early Wednesday morning after the Cougars returned from upsetting No. 7 Kansas in Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU seniors Kaylee Smiler, left, and Lauren Gustin embrace near the end of a Senior Night victory against Houston at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU catcher Hailey Morrow squeezes a pitch during a women's college softball game against Utah Tech at Gail Miller Field on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU football players walk off the field at the outdoor practice facility in Provo after completing spring camp on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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Daily Herald sports writers Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd give their opinions on the hot BYU sports topics this week:

1. Coaches and players need to move on to focus on TCU, but we can keep talking about the Kansas win for BYU men’s basketball. What was the main factor in the Cougars upset at fabled Phog Allen Fieldhouse?

DICKSON: This team, right? Struggles and loses at last-place Oklahoma State a few weeks ago, then beats Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse.

I know fans like to say “live by the three, die by the three,” but I think BYU’s success is much more nuanced that just that. They also have to play good defense, which they did against the Jayhawks. They also have to be able to overcome adversity from play to play and not let the frustration keep them from moving on to the next play.

I would say the main factor in the victory was making the right plays down the stretch. The Cougars have an experienced team and they made all the right moves in the final four minutes.

LLOYD: I think the biggest key to BYU’s victory was that the Cougars stayed committed to who they are as a team. That can be harder to do in a hostile environment like Allen Fieldhouse than most people might realize.

BYU never stopped playing determined, physical defense even when they were getting whistled for bumping guys with less force than you see in the line at Cafe Rio. Despite the foul trouble, the Cougars kept Kansas from getting comfortable, particularly down the stretch.

And BYU followed the same recipe on offense, running their stuff and taking the shots that were there. They started dropping more consistently and that of course was huge.

I think the Cougars were able to do that because this is a team that is comfortable with its identity. Sometimes that’s not enough – but Tuesday it was.

2. The most asked question about the victory at Kansas: Where does it rank in BYU men’s basketball history?

LLOYD: Our obsession with ranking things borders on the absurd and everyone has their own criteria, which makes everyone’s views different.

But this is my chance to extrapolate on how I rank big wins, so I’ll take a minute to explain it.

To me, you have to differentiate between the regular season and the postseason because the stakes are so different. That’s why I don’t even put Tuesday’s win at Kansas in the same category as Danny Ainge’s signature finish against Notre Dame, Jimmer Fredette’s NCAA tournament wins or the NIT championships in 1951 and 1966.

And you have to view road and home games differently as well. It is different being in front of your own fans going for the big upset than it is to be in front of the opponent’s fans.

With those delineators in mind, I will say that the win is third in my regular season road games list, behind the Gonzaga win in 2017 and the San Diego State win in 2011.

I’m probably not thinking of others that should be in the conversation but that’s my perspective. I’m not sold on this being a great Jayhawk team but with the parity of college basketball, they have a good of a chance as anyone to make a run in the tournament.

DICKSON: I was at all three BYU victories against Gonzaga in Spokane, including 2017 when the ‘Zags were undefeated and ranked No. 1. Most memorable was that the local paper had already printed a big special section for the undefeated season and it was circulated after the game on social media so Cougar fans could have a good laugh. That was pretty amazing.

I think the Notre Dame victory in the 1981 NCAA Tournament will be difficult to top (Danny Ainge’s length of the court dash) and beating Gonzaga in the Marriott Center in 2020 was a pretty special evening.

What comes to mind from the three straight wins at Spokane was that BYU only made the NCAA Tournament in one of those seasons, and it was to a play-in game (2015).

The win against Kansas on Tuesday likely solidified a very high seed for the Cougars in the tournament. Plus, this is Kansas, which has won four national titles and is virtually unbeatable in Phog Allen Fieldhouse. In the regular season, the win on Tuesday may be the best ever.

3. Lauren Gustin played her final regular-season home game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday and turned in a typical (for her) performance with 19 points and 17 rebounds in a 64-54 victory against Houston. Where does Gustin rank among the top players in BYU women’s hoops history?

DICKSON: Before I get to the question, Gustin averaged 15.7 points and 17.7 rebounds per game (best in the country) last season in the West Coast Conference.

In Big 12 play this year, she’s at 17.4 points (fifth in league play) and 15.2 rebounds (first in the country) in 17 games. That’s remarkable considering the competition level and that Gustin is undersized in the post at 6-foot-1.

I think Tina Gunn Robinson (2,759 points) is No. 1 all-time at BYU and you have to consider other greats such as Tresa Spaulding Hamson, Lexi Eaton Rydalch and Erin Thorn. I also consider Jennifer Hamson in that conversation because she led the volleyball to the NCAA final AND the basketball team to the Sweet 16.

As for Gustin, you could make an argument that she’s in the top five because of her rebounding ability. You have to consider that none of the others had the same level of competition that Gustin faces every night in the Big 12.

LLOYD: I find that GOAT (greatest of all time) discussions in team sports are impossible to do fairly. In basketball, for example, how do you compare what a guard does to what a forward does to what a center does? Add in historical perspective and the way the game was different, and you really can’t compare very well at all.

But while all that is true, hasn’t Gustin been fun to watch over the last few years?

I think she embodies the ideal of the underdog. She hast to overcome being under size with tenacity, cleverness, and determination. She is so crafty around the basket, able to score with either hand with a remarkable array of turnarounds, hooks, and scoop shots.

She is also a tenacious defender, who doesn’t back down from any challenge, differences in size or athleticism.

And none of that even gets into her innate sense of how the ball will come off the basket to allow her to get so many rebounds.

The fact that BYU went through both a coaching transition and a conference transition during Gustin’s time with the Cougars limited her postseason successes, but I still think she belongs in the conversation as one of the top Cougar women’s basketball players of all time.

4. Between BYU baseball and softball, which team will see more success this spring in the Big 12?

LLOYD: I think the response to this question is a pretty straightforward one to me for a simple reason:

Both baseball and softball are games where pitching is the defining factor between consistent success and struggling to get wins.

In 2024, I’m much more confident with the Cougar softball pitchers then I am with the BYU baseball pitchers.

Through 17 games, the Cougar softball pitchers have a combined ERA of 2.59, led by Kate Dahle’s 1.65 ERA. On the flip side, the BYU baseball pitchers have combined for a 4.88 ERA in seven games.

Yes, that is a much smaller sample size for baseball but I still think overall it’s a good early indicator of where these two teams are at heading into March.

DICKSON: Probably not much debate here that the softball team should be pretty competitive in the Big 12. They’ve started well (12-4) while barnstorming to warmer climates and won’t play at home until March 7.

The “Fighting Gordon Eakins” have a very good hitting lineup with Violet Zavodnik, Ailana Agbayani and Huntyr Ava a dangerous as they come. With consistent pitching BYU should be in most Big 12 games.

The baseball team, well, the jury is still out whether or not it can compete in the Big 12, especially after a poor showing in its last year in the WCC.

It’s early, but the Cougars are just 1-4 since an opening game win against USC. The offense has some potential and the pitching is still a work in progress.

5. BYU fans get exited whenever the football team puts on pads, but spring ball can sometimes be a “nothing burger” where very few battles are decided. What exactly is the worth of spring football?

DICKSON: I don’t really focus on position battles or the depth chart in spring ball. It’s not worth it because so many of the decisions won’t be made until fall camp.

I watch the newcomers to see how comfortable they are on the field, how fluid they look and if they are making plays. With returning players, especially those who haven’t gotten a lot of playing time, I look for some of the same things.

I try to gage whether there is improvement from the returning starters, both on the field as players and off the field in leadership.

The Cougars have some new coaches and spring is a good time to get to know they a little better as well. I do wish BYU had an actual spring game, though the alumni game has been pretty fun the past couple of years.

LLOYD: The blunt answer is that the value of spring camp has very little to do with the fans. It’s all about getting the work in.

Practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes things permanent. That’s what it is important for every team — but particularly one wanting to make some big improvements like BYU — to value every moment of practice they get.

The Cougars certainly showed with their painful belly flop at the end of 2023 that they have plenty of skills to shore up and techniques that need to be made permanent in a good way. That’s going to be what these athletes focus on for the next five weeks as they lay the foundation for the upcoming season.

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