Well, that didn’t go as BYU hoped, did it?

The Cougars bowed out of their first Big 12 tournament in the quarterfinals on Thursday with a mediocre showing against a solid Texas Tech team who clearly had more energy.

Credit the Red Raiders for executing their game plan at a high level. They hit the boards hard, took advantage of getting the switches they wanted off of screens and shot the ball well.

BYU … didn’t.

Other than the one bright spot, the 15-0 run in the second half that gave Cougar supporters some momentary hope, the Cougars didn’t do the things they needed to in order to win.

It happens.

When it happens in March in the early rounds of a conference tournament, it can damage a team’s hopes of making it to the Big Dance.

Remember March 6, 2023?

That was the date of the West Coast Conference semifinal game against No. 16-ranked Saint Mary’s where BYU came up short, 76-69, and saw the 2022-23 season end. It was the last game for the Cougars in the WCC, capping the season with a 19-15 record.

I recall conversations with BYU fans for eight months after that defeat dreading how their Cougars were going to do when faced with a real gauntlet of a conference schedule in the Big 12.

It’s kind of fun to think back to those days when the angst was high on BYU head coach Mark Pope’s decision to keep much of the roster intact.

Few believed the Cougars had any chance at a winning record in what has become known as the toughest basketball league in the country, let alone making the NCAA tournament.

But here we are.

Is the 2023-24 BYU team a juggernaut? Will it need a run to the Final Four or even the Sweet 16 in the upcoming March Madness competition to consider the season a success?

No way.

The Cougars — just like just about every team in the country — have their flaws. Texas Tech certainly highlighted that.

BYU can get sloppy on defense and give up big runs. The Cougars sometimes rush shots or make lazy passes on offense.

Perhaps the biggest issue comes when BYU players start trying to do too much on their own at either end of the court instead of playing the team basketball that has been the foundation for the Cougar success.

But if I’m going to point at some of BYU’s weaknesses, I should also highlight why the Cougars could put together a nice run in the upcoming tournament.

First and foremost, BYU runs a system that isn’t easy to prepare for. The Cougars will likely find out their first-round opponent on Sunday but there is a chance they will play a play-in game winner like they did as a No. 6-seed in 2021.

Either way, BYU will take on a team that has only had a few days to prepare and likely hasn’t seen it before.

The Cougars can also go deep on the bench with 10 guys who can be difference-makers.

As you go down the list of BYU players who have been on the court for at least 200 minutes this season, it’s possible to see anyone one of them — Spencer Johnson, Dallin Hall, Noah Waterman, Aly Khalifa, Trevin Knell, Jaxson Robinson, Ritchie Saunders, Fousseyni Traore, Trey Stewart or even Atiki Ally Atiki — making a key play if called upon.

Will they?

Maybe, maybe not. There are no guarantees at this point in the season.

The Cougars also generally rebound well as a team and are very capable of blitzing opponents with big runs in just a couple of minutes of game action.

The thing I am most confident in as the Cougars head toward next week’s tournament is that they will be true to the identity they have established throughout the entire season.

If the 3-pointers are dropping, they will be tough to beat.

If they aren’t, they could lose to anyone.

They will move without the ball and get good looks on back-cuts. They will be physical on defense and rely on a team scheme to force opponents into tough shots. They will run when they can, often looking to set up shooters from outside.

Win or lose, they will be the same BYU team that they’ve been all year, one that is fun to watch and frustrating all at the same time.

So now we’ll just have to wait and see where that takes them.

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