The Cougars starting five of AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders, Robert Wright III, Keba Keita and Kennard Davis Jr. plays the bulk of the minutes as Young works with his rotations.

Boskovic was a key contributor off the bench in Saturday’s win at Kansas State with nine points, three rebounds and one impressive block to prevent a Wildcats fast-break late in the first half. Boskovic had a 3-point play and made 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.

The 6-foot-10 senior played 17:30, the most of anyone off the bench.

“He mistakenly defines his success in shot making,” Young said. “I define his success in ball movement and defense. He’s one of our smartest defensive players. He’s big, he makes us bigger because he’s playing the four now AJ is kind of the three. I think we can rebound, I think our length causes problems and I think you saw that when he was out there.

“In terms of his shot making, when he takes feet-set open threes, he’s a good shooter. That’s an area where we trust him. It’s been a battle of him playing within himself. When he’s done that, he’s been really good for us.”

Boskovic is averaging 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.5% from the field and 37.5% from the 3-point line in 11.8 minutes per game.

The other thing I’ll say is that the reason I went with him particularly in that game is first conference road game, he’s a guy that I trust,” Young said. “He’s a guy that’s helped us win games on the road before in this league, particularly on the road. I think it was good for some of the young guys to see how locked in he was on the game plan.

“I thought what Mahailo did w as extremely impressive, because his role has been a little spotty. We have what we call our “stay ready” group and I think it’s really a reference track. Trey Stewart, last year, was completely out of the rotation. He was part of that “stay ready” group and he earned his way on the floor. So that’s what some of those guys are going to have to do. They get it done in practice and they get it done when their number gets called in the game. You’ve got to come in and produce.”

Scouting Report

Arizona State is another one of those teams that went through a complete roster makeover in the offseason. Junior guard Bryce Ford is the only one left on the roster that played against BYU last season.

Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky), Adam Miller (Gonzaga), Joson Sanon (St. John’s), Amir Ali (Mississippi State) and Shawn Phillips Jr. (Missouri) were all key contributors last season that left Tempe. Head coach Bobby Hurley brought in a good replacement talent from all over, including leading scorer Maurice Odum (Pepperine) and Anthony “Pig” Johnson (NE Mississippi College) through the transfer portal as well as 7-1 freshman Masamba Diop. Odom averages 16.6 points and 6.6 assists per game, Johnson brings 14.1 points per game off the bench and Diop’s numbers (13.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 65% field goals) are also good.

The Sun Devils had a strong performance at the Maui Classic on November, beating Texas and Washington State before falling to USC in the final. But ASU has lost its past three games to UCLA (90-77), Oregon State (78-75) and Colorado (95-89) in its Big 12 opener.

“They are totally different,” Young said. “They’re talented, though, and they did a good job of finding good players. They’re super long. They start 6-10, 6-11 and 7-1. Their guard, Mo Odum, he’s as dynamic of a guard as we’ve seen to date. He reminds me more of an NBA-style guard that’s super electric in the pick and roll looking for his own shot. I’m really impressed with their big fella, Diop. He’s very mobile and super athletic, with great size. And there’s some requisite shooting around that.”

Men’s College Basketball

Arizona State (9-5, 0-1 Big 12) at No. 9 BYU (13-1, 1-0 Big 12)

Wednesday, 7 p.m. MT

Marriott Center, Provo

TV/Streaming: Peacock/NBCSN (YouTubeTV)

Radio: KSL 102.7/1160 AM, BYU Radio-Sirus XM 143

Live stats: byucougars.com

The Word: Tuesday will be the 48th meeting between BYU and Arizona State, with the Cougars leading the overall series 28-19. … BYU is 20-3 against the Sun Devils in Provo. … AJ Dybantsa has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games, tied for the sixth-longest streak in program history. … The Cougars are 6-0 at home this season and have won ten straight in the Marriott Center dating back to last season. … In the last meeting, BYU beat Arizona State 91-81 in Tempe on Feb. 26.