Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- BYU basketball, led by Kevin Young, adjusts lineups due to injuries.
- The team defeated No. 23 Wisconsin 98-70 despite AJ Dybantsa's foul trouble.
- Ritchie Saunders excelled with 26 points; Young emphasizes patience for team growth.
PROVO — Barely into his second season as a college basketball coach, Kevin Young already has gone through the difficulty of juggling lineups.
Put any plans for continuity on hold for a bit longer — just like Young's rookie year leading the BYU program.
Through only four games, mostly due to unforeseen circumstances and injuries, BYU has trotted out multiple starting units. But don't panic just yet, as last season showed, there's plenty of time for adjustments.
Best of all, winning through the experiments buys time to work out the kinks. The ninth-ranked Cougars continued to do exactly that on Friday afternoon, posting their best win of the early season in beating No. 23 Wisconsin 98-70 at the Delta Center.
In a repeat of the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, BYU, again, disposed of the Badgers. Wisconsin put a scare into BYU, trimming a double-digit deficit down to 7 points multiple times in the second but never got any closer.
For the Cougars, the most impressive part of expanding the lead was they did it without the services of AJ Dybantsa, who was glued to the bench after being whistled for his fourth foul. Instead of wilting against the traditionally physical Badgers, the Cougars turned up their level of aggressiveness.
By the time Dybantsa got back in the game with eight minutes left, BYU stretched the lead to 19 points. A deep 3-pointer from Ritchie Saunders put the Cougars up 22 points at the seven-minute mark, effectively ending any chance of a Wisconsin comeback.
"Not only did we weather it, we increased the lead, which says a lot about the rest of the team," Young said.
In today's transient world of college basketball, teams changed over drastically from one season to another. BYU, which reached the Sweet 16 last season, is no exception.
Several players left, including Egor Demin to the NBA, and were replaced by transfers and incoming freshmen. The trick is to mesh it all together as quickly as possible.
Nothing can be rushed, as Young said he explained to Saunders during a recent chat. The returning senior, who scored a game-high 26 points and looked dominant after Dybantsa left with foul trouble, wants to fast-track the team's development.
Even though he's new to the college game after spending years as an NBA assistant, Young knows to preach patience. He said all the nonconference games, including two exhibitions against Nebraska and North Carolina, are critical to the team's development.
"I'm not going to act like I'm a savvy vet in the college game," Young said. "Just even two years in you've got one team last year and then everybody leaves and then you've got a new team and now you've to figure those guys out."
BYU was also thrown a curveball with a season-ending injury to likely rotation player Nate Pickens and the suspension to Kennard Davis, who was charged with class B misdemeanor driving under the influence in Provo earlier this week.
Provo police issued a report indicating that Davis was allegedly in possession of marijuana after he was involved in a two-car crash last week.
Davis began the season as a starter but is now suspended. Young said after Friday's game he did not know when Davis would return.
The starting lineup has changed in each of the last three games, primarily with Dawson Baker going back and forth to coming off the bench. He was back in the first group against Wisconsin, scoring 11 points.
But if Dybantsa, Saunders and Rob Wright can play, the Cougars should stay in the national rankings all season. Wright showed his ability against the Badgers, posting 14 points to go with 11 assists with only two turnovers.
"We build chemistry every day," Young said. "We're a new team, so I think it's going to keep growing throughout the season."
