Has BYU found a formula to hold up against a brutal Big 12 stretch of games coming up?
It'll need one.
Arizona is on a four-game win streak, sits No. 2 behind Houston in the Big 12 standings, and is 15-6 overall after getting smacked a few times in non-conference play.
Kevin Young has his BYU squad on a four-game winning streak after beating UCF on Saturday 71-75 , but he now faces Arizona Tuesday before traveling into the Eastern Time Zone at Cincinnati and West Virginia.
It's crunch time for the Cougars.
Will they handle it better than they did in losses to Houston, Utah, TCU and Texas Tech?
Well, it appears Young has better role-playing and chemistry right now than two weeks ago. He's showing quality depth with Dawson Baker , Kanon Catchings, Fouss Traore and Dallin Hall coming off the bench and he's found gold in Richie Saunders and Rutgars' transfer Mawot Mag.
Mag has especially stepped up for Young on defense , showing why Maryland coach Kevin Willard labeled him the best college defender in the country last year.
Young has been decisive in putting the experience on his roster on the floor — regardless of starting status — during crunch time. That includes giving star freshman Egor Demin and Catchings a breather if needed when absolute execution and defensive prowess is required.
In short, Young got four straight wins by making some tough decisions with his players.
"We know where we are in our season," said Young. "We let a couple of games go early in the year that we felt were right there for us. Our guys stayed the course. But we know that we have work to do, and this was a step in the right direction for that against a good team that's well-coached."
Young showed at UCF that he can adjust to an opposing team's intimidation, bullying and attacks on Demin when they extend defenses to meet him right at midcourt, where they deploy a lot of hacking at his high dribble and ball handling.
This has been a strategy by opponents since the loss to Providence in Rhode Island and it was front and center by Johnny Dawkins and his UCF Knights on Saturday in Orlando.
Young, in a necessary bench move, has been very vocal with officials, which have come under fire the past weekend in Big 12 play, specifically with the ejection of Texas Tech's best player and coach at Houston just minutes after tipoff.
Young isn't being a wallflower when his backcourt is mugged.
And that's nice to see.
Young is buoyed up in this most recent win streak due to deadly outside shooting by Saunders, senior Trevin Knell and Mog. And he witnessed a perfect night out of Catchings during the run.
This is a sign his offense has morphed into an effective force in the league.
Saunders is shooting 45.3% from distance this season on 48 of 106 shooting and Knell is close behind at 44.4% (48 of 108).
In Big 12 play, BYU fields three of the top eight 3-point shooters in Saunders at No. 2 (49.2%), Knell at No. 7 (43. 3%), and Hall (42.9%).
The Cougars shot a hot 48% from the field at UCF and 43.7% from distance against the Knights. In the previous three games, BYU had shot above 55% from the field, something not achieved in seven years according to Cougarstats.com
In Big 12 play, BYU leads the league in 3-point buckets made with 10.7 per game and that ranks seventh nationally. The Cougars are fourth in Big 12 scoring (81.4), No. 3 in team field goal percentage (.485), and third in team 3-point percentage (.375).
Wins over Baylor and UCF lifted BYU to No. 34 in NET rankings, placing the Cougars inside the bubble with some NCAA Tournament projections. Two Quad 1 wins will do that.
Nobody's calling the Cougars a legitimate Big 12 conference contender right now, but Young's team is tracking where Mark Pope had the Cougars a year ago, tied for fifth in league standings and a possible No. 5 seed in the league tournament.
The trajectory and momentum are positives for Young.
The big thing is he has found ways to finish games late.
And that, quite frankly, is big after leaving Utah and the Jon Huntsman Center with a loss.
Still needs work: They've got to make more free throws. Without improvement, it will cost the Cougars dearly.
BYU forward Mawot Mag drives for a layup against UCF on Saturday, Feb. 1 in Orlando. | BYU Photo
