When new BYU basketball coach Kevin Young was assembling his first team in Provo last spring and summer, the addition of Rutgers graduate transfer Mawot Mag was kind of an afterthought.
"It doesn't matter if I play one minute, two minutes or whatever. I just like coming in and playing my hardest and just helping my team"
After all, Young brought in three highly regarded freshmen — Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings and Elijah Crawford — reeled Dallin Hall and Richie Saunders back in from the transfer portal, and lured Keba Keita away from rival Utah.
But Mag, a 6-foot-7 forward who played four years at the Big Ten school , has augmented the team nicely with his defensive tenacity, toughness and playmaking ability. He recently moved into the starting lineup when Catchings was struggling and helped the Cougars (12-6, 3-4) knock off Oklahoma State and Colorado and give Utah all it wanted in an overtime loss at the Huntsman Center.
"I like the intensity that he is bringing," Young said after the 73-72 loss at Utah. "He is a guy who, honestly, has been good off the bench, has been good as a starter."
Young hasn't committed to Mag starting every game moving forward and Catchings coming off the bench after Catchings started in the Cougars' first 15 games, saying "everything is on the table" as he continues to search for the best combinations to have more success in the Big 12.
But it is clear that Mag, who fled war-torn Sudan with his family when he was 2 and grew up in Melbourne, Australia , before coming to the United States to play prep basketball when he was 15, has earned the playing time he is getting.
"My gut feeling was a starting lineup change, based on that stretch of the schedule," said Young, who also gave Mag a start vs. Florida A&M when Richie Saunders was recovering from a concussion sustained against Wyoming. "So I am always trying to evaluate that (benching of Catchings). As it relates to Mawot, yeah, he is going to have a role. We will continue to evaluate what that role looks like."
BYU teammates celebrate from the sideline after a 3-pointer by Mawot Mag during a game against Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News
Speaking of the Wyoming game, that's when Mag showed he could be a valuable contributor. He replaced Saunders, who left the floor with a fat lip that would require seven stitches, and instantly made a difference on both ends of the floor. Mag slowed Wyoming's best player on one end of the Delta Center court, while making 4 of 5 shots for a season-high 11 points at the other end.
"Just staying ready," was the key, Mag said after the game. "Coach always tries to tell us if things are not going your way, just stay ready. It is a long season and we have a lot of talent. There can only be a certain amount of people on the floor. Just stay ready and get better every day and just wait your turn because you never know."
Mag was also a catalyst in BYU's 83-67 win over Colorado on Tuesday in Boulder. He went 5 of 9 from the field for 11 points, while also grabbing five rebounds and playing his trademark defense on Bangot Dak, who had been scoring in bunches before the game but had just five points against the Cougars.
"It doesn't matter if I play one minute, two minutes or whatever," Mag said. "I just like coming in and playing my hardest and just helping my team win, do whatever it takes to win the ball game. I just try to come in there and have an impact on the game."
That will be the goal for Mag again Saturday night, as BYU hosts Cincinnati (12-6, 2-5), which is also off to a disappointing start to the Big 12 season after a stellar non-conference run. Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. MST and the game will be televised by ESPN2.
The Bearcats were picked to finish sixth in the league (BYU was picked ninth), and are coming off an 81-71 loss at home to Texas Tech, a team that also stunned the Cougars in Provo.
Of course, Cincinnati surprised the Cougars last year in Provo in both schools' first-ever Big 12 game, winning 71-60 after trailing BYU by seven points at halftime. BYU's Trevin Knell tied a Marriott Center record with nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points, but the Cougars struggled down the stretch, finished with 18 turnovers, and the Bearcats made the big plays in the final moments.
As for Catchings, who has played only 42 combined minutes the past four games and scored only 11 points during that stretch, Young said the top recruit had a "stomach bug" before the Utah game and "was a little out of energy" but "took a step in the right direction defensively" against the Utes.
"Kanon, he is different. He is 6-9 and he is athletic. He can get shots that other guys can't. That was our hope when we signed him, and it continues to be our hope — him just being different than anything else that we have," Young said. We are "trying to give him the confidence to go after it offensively.
"Again, it is on me to put him in those positions, and I am very mindful of that," Young continued. "But I think as a young player, sometimes you gotta learn the balance of doing what the coach asks, but also being aggressive and being yourself. I think he is trying to figure that out at the moment."
BYU forward Kanon Catchings hits a 3-pointer against the Florida A&M Rattlers in Provo on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. The highly-touted freshman has been replaced in the starting lineup by Rutgers transfer Mawot Mag in recent games. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
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