Patrick Kinahan: Expectations plummet for hard-luck BYU basketball

PROVO — For a team that began the season with Final Four aspirations, expectations for BYU basketball have dropped precipitously over the last few weeks.

Four consecutive losses during the heart of the Big 12 schedule lowered the hype for the Cougars. The latest blow, which is a season-ending injury to Richie Saunders, has led to predictions of BYU having a short stay in next month's NCAA Tournament.

"I think I do better in situations like this, back against-the-wall type of mentality," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "I've kind of operated that way my whole life. I'm as energized as I've ever been as a coach, and I'm taking this challenge head on. I know a lot of people are writing us off, and I'm kind of relishing in that and so are our guys."

To prove the rising tide of doubters wrong, Young is now forced to rely on several rarely used players. The so-called "big three" — consisting of AJ Dybantsa, Rob Wright, and Saunders — is no more.

The devastating knee injury to Saunders in the first minute of the team's last game, combined with a similar situation to super sub Dawson Baker in November, has left BYU extremely thin going into the last three weeks of the regular season. Young is now forced to tap into the other side of BYU's payroll.

"Obviously, I was going really heavy on not using the bench a ton," said Young, who was a NBA assistant coach for eight years. "Now we don't have a choice. I've seen this in the NBA world where people go out and other guys step up. I've seen it time and time again.

The difference is that most of those role NBA role players likely enjoyed success in college. Sporadic playing time hasn't done much to instill confidence at the college level for several Cougars.

Going forward, the likes of Mihailo Boskovic, Aleksej Kostic and Tyler Mrus will take on bigger roles in the toughest stretch of the season. Three of the remaining six games are against top 13 teams (Arizona, Iowa State and Texas Tech) in addition to road trips to West Virginia and Cincinnati.

"With some of the guys, it hasn't gone their way to this point," Young said during Tuesday's media availability. "All right, well guess what, you wanted more opportunity, you just got it. So now what are you going to do with it. I'm extremely motivated knowing it's not going to be that easy, but nothing is really ever that easy."

Saying "belief is a beautiful thing," a concept he borrowed from BYU women's cross country coach Diljeet Taylor, Young can't have a quick hook if he wants the role players to succeed. "Everything is the table," he said, in determining the best playing rotations.

Trading the big three for the dynamic duo, BYU will rely more heavily on Dybantsa and Wright. The two leading scorers dominate on offense, but Dybantsa has faith in his teammates coming up big.

"I'm super confident in those guys," Dybantsa said after the overtime win over Colorado last Saturday.

Young also pointed to expecting more from starter Kennard Davis. For much of the season, Davis has been miscast almost exclusively as a three-point shooter without the ability to consistently make the shot from beyond the arc.

Davis, who logs the fourth-most minutes, in shooting 36 percent from the field and 28 percent on three-pointers. With Saunders sidelined, Davis can operate with more space.

"I'm going to try to unlock him more," Young said. "I think I've probably done him a disservice by trying to make him strictly a catch-and-shoot guy when he has a lot more to offer."

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