Every game has a story, and No. 23 BYU's slugfest win over Iowa State was one of resilience

PROVO — Kevin Young still couldn't believe it when he walked into the postgame media room after BYU basketball's 88-85 win over No. 10 Iowa State.

The 23rd-ranked Cougars had just come off a stunner Tuesday night in Ames, a double-overtime victory that locked up a top-four finish in the Big 12 Conference in Young's first season.

It was the biggest win of his young collegiate career, though the seventh consecutive victory overall, and one that gives the Cougars (22-8, 13-6 Big 12) some serious momentum as they return home for senior night against in-state rival Utah and into the conference tournament next week in Kansas City.

But still, he smiled and shook his head, even laughed a bit without chuckling, more in a manner of disbelief than mockery.

BYU had just beaten a top-10 team on the road at a place where they had only last once in the previous 33 games. And they did it with how many turnovers?

Twenty-nine for 34 points for the Cyclones. And BYU had a 21-point lead in the second half before surviving two extra sessions by a 3-point margin. But who's counting?

BYU is the first team with 29 or more turnovers against an Associated Press Top 25 opponent to win a game since Iowa had 31 in a win over then-No. 10 Kansas — dating back to Dec. 8, 1998. That's 117 straight wins the other direction since then, according to Opta Stats.

Until Tuesday night.

The Cyclones (22-8, 12-7 Big 12) had the home-court advantage, the physical defense, and five players scoring in double figures, led by 19 from Joshua Jefferson and another 18 from Milan Momcilovic, who drained three triples to pull Iowa State all the way back.

Sure, the Cougars had Richie Saunders' 23 points, including 13-of-13 from the free-throw line, and a Herculean effort from Dallin Hall, whose season-high 22 points, five rebounds and three assists with four 3-pointers were only slightly more impressive overall than the alley-oop he took from Trey Stewart for a two-handed flush — because if Steph Curry can dunk, then why not the pride of Fremont High?

And just like the Avengers had a Hulk, BYU had Keba Keita against an "onslaught of physicality."

"They made us obviously go out and find a way to earn that one," Young said. "That was a toughness thing; bottom line. We had 29 turnovers, but we were 52-34 on the glass, so that kind of evened things out."

Keita's approach wasn't always flashy — except perhaps for the chase-down block with three-and-a-half minutes left in overtime that immediately drew LeBron James comparisons online — but his role proved pivotal as the Cougars clamped down on a comeback.

His season-high 15 rebounds included nine boards on the offensive glass, which was more than Iowa State's whole team.

"I've never felt like rebounding, especially offensive rebounding, was just a size thing," Young said. "Some of it's technique. A lot of it is just want-to."

The Cougars' plus-28 rebounding margin helped overcome the 34 points off turnovers and a 28% first-half 3-point shooting performance to eventually lead by double digits.

Not that the Cougars ever felt comfortable — not with Iowa State's quick, strong hands or length that gave BYU fits all night, and not even after Hall was hanging on the rim with a 21-point advantage.

"They're such a good team," Saunders said as he recalled sitting in the same media room after letting a 14-point lead slip away a year prior. "They're going to keep battling you, even if you're up 21."

The win locks BYU into a top-four seed for the Big 12 tournament next week in Kansas City, with as high as a No. 2 seed possible depending on the final results of the weekend, including the rivalry home game Saturday night (8 p.m. MT, ESPNU).

This was everything the first-year coach who was named one of 16 finalists for the Joe B. Hall Award presented annually to the top first-time head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball could have dreamed of before he took the head job at his wife's alma mater, back when he was a highly-touted NBA assistant looking on at the college coaches every March and wondering how much fun they were having.

"Every time I was in the NBA and March would roll around, I'd think, I'd bet it's so fun to coach college basketball in March. And here we are," he said. "You get a chance to play against really good teams who have really good players, and I that's fun to coach. As a competitor, that's what you look forward to."

Young said the Cougars weren't thinking about that in Ames — he and his coaching staff had talked about it, but not with the locker room. Even less so were they considering a potential rematch with the Cyclones at the T-Mobile Center, even though Iowa State is likely bound for the No. 5 seed in Kansas City.

Any thoughts if that happens?

"Don't turn the ball over," Young said cheekily, before eventually adding: "That'll be a big-time game."

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