BYU stacking good days and wins heading to UCF
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- BYU’s Kanon Catchings reacts after making a 3-pointer in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Kanon Catchings (6) scores on a reverse layup and is fouled in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Keba Keita rises up for a dunk in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Dawson Baker (left) makes a move into the key against Cincinnati in a Big 12 men’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young said his team is “stacking good days” in practice and that has led to stacking wins, as well.
The Cougars have won three straight games in the Big 12 for the first time after beating Colorado in Boulder and topping Cincinnati and Baylor in the Marriott Center.
It’s helped that freshman Kanon Catchings, who was dropped from the starting lineup after the loss to TCU on Jan. 11, has started to heat up from the field adjusting to coming off the bench.
The 6-foot-9 freshman was 3 for 5 from the 3-point line in the win against Cincinnati and had a perfect shooting night in the victory vs. Baylor, making all eight field goals (4 of 4 from the 3-point line) and 3 of 3 on free throws for a career-high 23 points.
“You don’t miss a shot, I guess you can call that a breakout game,” Young said. “He was tremendous and I’m happy for him. He’s had a couple bumps in the road and he stayed the course. I think my coaching staff has done a good job of just staying in the trenches with him, keeping him positive, and he’s done a good job of just keeping his head down and working.”
Catchings is definitely gave the 32 NBA scouts in attendance on Tuesday something to think about. They also had to come away impressed with BYU freshman Egor Demin (15 points, six assists) and Baylor freshmen V.J. Edgecombe (28 points) and Robert Wright III (22).
“It does a lot just to make a lot of shots that I’ve been working on with Coach JL (John Linehan) and Kyle (grad assistant Kyle Sturdivant),” Catchings said. “It just shows me that the work I’m putting in is helping.”
Catchings’ aunt, WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, was also at the game.
“I just didn’t want to have a bad game when she was here, and especially because my mom was here, too,” Kanon Catchings said. “I definitely would hear about it.”
Kanon Catchings scored his 23rd point with 5:41 remaining, converting a gorgeous reverse layup for a 3-point play. He was subbed out of the game at the 3:44 mark, re-entered for the final four seconds of regulation and didn’t play in the five-minute overtime session.
He said he wasn’t frustrated with not playing late for the Cougars.
“I just wanted to win the game,” he said. “So whatever Coach thought would get us to win, that’s what I wanted to do.”
The Cougars put the game away in overtime by making six of seven at the foul line, the final two by junior guard Dawson Baker with 6.3 seconds to go.
“I think we’re just ultra-focused right now,” Baker said. “We’ve found a good groove. It helps when you win, where you can really kind of sink your teeth in some things. Guys are really excited now being in the gym, so I think we’re just locked into the next assignment. We have a lot of guys that are just work horses. That’s the habit that we have, the culture that we built here. When you have that, there’s no other option to think ‘Maybe I should take today off.'”
Scouting Report
Young said during his coach’s show on Wednesday that the first team to play defense will probably win on Saturday, and he’s not wrong.
UCF is third in Big 12 in scoring (78.7) and BYU is sixth (75.3). The Golden Knights have a trio of three-level scorers in George Mason transfer Keyshawn Hall (18 points per game), Darius Johnson (14.7) and Tulsa transfer Jordan Ivy-Curry (14.5). Hall put up 40 points in a win at Arizona State on Jan. 14 and totaled 34 on Tuesday in a close loss at No. 11 Kansas. Cougar fans will remember Johnson, who scored 70 points in three games vs. BYU last season, including 32 in a the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
The Cougars have averaged 85.3 points in winning three straight Big 12 games while shooting 56% from the field and 49% from the 3-point line. In addition, UCF is last in the Big 12 in defense, allowing 84.3 points in nine league games.
The two teams are also near the top of every 3-point shooting category in the Big 12. BYU is No. 1 in percentage (.374) and UCF is second (.368), while the Golden Knights are No. 1 in threes made per game (10.2) and the Cougars second (9.6).
All of the above points to an offensive explosion in Orlando.
“I think our confidence is growing as a group,” Young said. “Houston kicked their butt but every other game, we’ve had a chance to win in league play. Our guys haven’t waned. I think their ability to stack good days in practice and now stack three wins in a row gives them great confidence. I told them in the locker room (after the Baylor game) that we should expect to beat good teams, because we’re a good team. We’ve kind of had that mantra since I’ve gotten here. I’m not sure if the guys believed it, but I think as we go on, they’re gaining confidence in that.”
Men’s College Basketball
BYU (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) at UCF (13-7, 4-5 Big 12)
Saturday, 2 p.m. MT
Addition Financial Arena, Orlando
TV/Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM, BYU Radio
Live stats: byucougars.com
The Word: Last year BYU was 3-0 against UCF, including an 87-73 victory in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. … Five of the Golden Knight’s seven losses this season have been against teams that were ranked at the time (No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 7 Kansas, No. 10 Houston, No. 3 Iowa State and No. 11 Kansas). … BYU is No. 1 in Big 12 play in field goal percentage (.483) and 3-point percentage (.374).
