Not good enough: BYU better vs. No. 8 Houston but still drops fourth straight game
-
- Houston’s Emmanuel Sharp (21) reaches in against BYU’s AJ Dybantsa in a Big 12 men’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.
-
- BYU guard Richie Saunders, left, looks for a play while doubled teamed by Houston during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
-
- Houston guard Emanuel Sharp (21) and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, right, play for a loose ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
-
- BYU’s Robert Wright III (left) is cut off by Houston’s Isaiah Harwell in a Big 12 men’s basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.
-
- BYU guard Abdullah Ahmed (34) dunks the ball against Houston during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
Better.
But still not good enough.
BYU men’s basketball head coach Kevin Young knows it. The Cougar players know it. BYU fans, who filled the Marriott Center (18,177 strong) on Saturday night and stood and cheered at nearly every big defensive possession, know it.
BYU’s shortcomings have been exposed in similar fashion in all of its six losses this season, five of which have come against ranked teams, three in the top 10. Sometimes it’s defense, sometimes its poor shooting, sometimes it’s bad decisions on the offensive end.
In Saturday’s 77-66 loss to No. 8 Houston, the culprits were easy to pinpoint: Poor free throw shooting (14-26), inability to secure defensive rebounds in the final six minutes and a mystifying lack of production at the rim.
“We’re upset that we didn’t win the game,” Young said. “It was another great opportunity that we let go, which is unfortunate for us, and it has been too many against the highest of caliber teams in the country. We just can’t seem to finish the job and that’s disappointing.
“However, I was happy with the response. Since I’ve been at BYU this is the hardest I’ve gone at the team in terms of things I was saying to them, the film I was showing them, in practice and so forth.”
Certainly the defense effort was much better than in the recent 99-90 loss at Oklahoma State, which was drubbed by No. 1 Arizona 84-47 on Saturday.
But not good enough against the 2025 NCAA runner-ups, who were led by uber-talented freshmen Kingston Flemings (19 points) and Chris Cenac Jr. (16) in making big plays down the stretch and answering every time the blue Cougars made a run.
BYU’s own freshman superstar, AJ Dybantsa, scored 28 points against the red Cougars but didn’t have nearly enough help. Dybantsa and sophomore guard Robert Wright III (17 points) were a combined 15 of 23 (65%) from the field; the rest of the BYU team was 6 of 30 (20%), including a frigid 8 of 19 (42%) in the paint.
“Go make a shot,” Young said crisply in the post-game news conference. “I don’t know what else to say. I mean, the two of them (centers Keba Keita and Abdullah Ahmed) were 3 of 10 combined then 3 of 8 from the free throw line. So those are basically seven missed layups and five missed free throws between your two centers. Not good enough.”
The red Cougars pretty much shut down Richie Saunders, who managed just seven points on 1 of 8 shooting.
“Yeah, they were great on Richie,” Young said. “I thought they did a good job one-on-one defense, and then on the threes as well. So that was a big part, clearly, of their game plan.”
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson pretty much identified his team’s overall defensive philosophy with this post-game quote: “One of the things BYU does really well when we watched them on film, is they get you so spread out. So I think one of the things that helped us is we stood our ground. You stay loaded to the ball. If you stay loaded to the ball on drives, we’ll build a wall.”
Houston jumped out a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes, Cenac with five points. It was 19-11 when BYU got back-to-back 3-pointers from Richie Saunders and Wright. A Saunders free throw trimmed the deficit to just one, 19-18, with 8:09 to play. Houston went on a 9-0 burst, including a 3-pointer from the 6-foot-11 Cenac, for a 28-18 advantage at the 6:02 mark.
The red Cougars led by 11, 31-20, after Isaiah Harwell popped in a 3-pointer but BYU managed to get to within four at 33-29 on a Wright triple. Joseph Tugler’s tip in gave the visitors a 37-31 lead at the half.
BYU tied the game at 46-46 on a 3-pointer from Dybantsa with 14:45 to play and led 48-46 when Wright sped in for a layup moments later. The blue Cougars actually took a three-point lead, 51-48, on a Wright triple with 13:28 remaining.
But as it did all night, Houston responded. A Flemings basket gave the red Cougars a 56-54 with 9:02 to play then the crafty freshman flopped on the other end to draw a foul then converted a 3-point play for a 59-54 Houston lead.
Down the stretch, the red Cougars gathered every offensive rebound and held off BYU at every turn. A Dybantsa 3-pointer got the blue Cougars within five at 70-65 with 1:45 remaining but Emmanuel Sharp countered with a triple of his own and Houston handled things from there.
So another good effort against a Top 10 opponent ends in a loss.
“We definitely came in wanting to make a statement, and wanted to show that we could play hard for two halves,” Wright said. “So I feel like we did a good job of changing that.”
BYU (17-6 overall, 5-5 Big 12), which led for just two minutes against Houston, will likely drop out of the Top 25 for the first time this season. The blue Cougars have lost four games in a row for the first time since 2023 and will try to avoid losing five in a row for the first time since 2005 on Tuesday at Baylor.
