Can BYU extend hot streak to four games vs. UCF? – Deseret News

The first team that plays defense probably wins.

No, that wasn’t BYU basketball coach Kevin Young’s Super Bowl prediction during his coaches show on Wednesday night.

Rather, the first-year skipper was referring to Saturday’s Big 12 showdown (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+) at UCF, which, like the Cougars, is one of the best offensive teams in the league, if not the country.

The Knights (13-7, 4-5) and Cougars (14-6, 5-4) clash at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida, for the first time this season, but for the fourth time the last two seasons.

The Land of Disney is also known as O-Town, and this year the “O” could stand for offense, Young said.

“They are as potent of an offensive team as there is probably in the country,” Young said. “They have got some guys who can really put the ball in the basket. They shoot a lot of 3s, play really fast, and so it will be a whoever-decides-to play-defense-first-probably-gets-the-win type of game.”

UCF’s high-powered offense starts with wing Keyshawn Hall, a 6-foot-7 junior from Cleveland who started his career at UNLV and played for George Mason last year. Hall is averaging 18.0 points in all games, and 21.4 in conference games, which leads the league.

“He is a handful,” Young said.

Then there’s 6-1 senior guard Darius Johnson, who gave the Cougars fits in three games last year, all BYU wins. Coincidentally, those BYU wins came on Jan. 13, Feb. 13 and March 13 by scores of 63-58 (Orlando), 90-88 (Provo) and 87-73 (Kansas City).

Johnson scored 18 in Orlando, 20 in Provo and 32 at the Big 12 Tournament, with six 3-pointers, against the Cougars. UCF’s other top scorer is Pacific transfer Jordan Ivy-Curry, who averages 14.5 points per game.

Of course, BYU has some outstanding offensive players as well, led by Richie Saunders (15.0), Egor Demin (11.2) and Trevin Knell (10.1).

Veteran UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said the Knights can’t let Saunders get free. The 6-5 junior has reached double figures in six straight games, including a 26-point outburst at TCU and a 25-point outburst at Colorado.

“They have got some guys who can really put the ball in the basket. They shoot a lot of 3s, play really fast, and so it will be a whoever-decides-to play-defense-first-probably-gets-the-win type of game.”

—  BYU coach Kevin Young on UCF

“We have to know where he is at all times. We have to have 10 eyes on him everywhere he is, because if you lose him for a split second, he has a shot off and it is up,” Dawkins said. “He is really good at a quick release. We need to make sure we know where he is at all times.”

BYU is averaging 81.0 points per game in all games, which is fourth in the Big 12; UCF is averaging 79.9 points, sixth in the Big 12.

In conference games only, UCF is averaging 78.7 points (third) and BYU is averaging 75.3 (sixth).

BYU is averaging a league-leading 10.5 3-pointers in conference games, while UCF is averaging 9.1 triples per league contest, which ranks fourth.

“I will put our group up against any team in the country in a 3-point shooting contest,” Young said. “But our defense will be really important in that game like it is any night, but especially against a high-powered offense like UCF has.”

The Knights obviously have the home-court advantage and have played well in Orlando after an inexplicable 99-48 loss to then-No. 7 Kansas at home on Jan. 5. On Jan. 18, UCF fell 69-68 at home to No. 6 Houston, which is the closest any Big 12 team has come to beating the Cougars.

If BYU has an advantage, it is that the Cougars are good at attacking the offensive glass and UCF is not good at defensive rebounding.

It is another Quad 1 opportunity for BYU, which is coming off a 93-89 overtime win over Baylor in Provo. The Cougars, who have a NET ranking of 36 (UCF is 62), flew to Florida on Thursday to give themselves a chance to get acclimated to the two-hour time difference.

Kenpom.com gives BYU a 51% chance to win.

“It is an important stretch for us,” Young said, alluding to a home game against Arizona on Tuesday, followed by a trip to Cincinnati and West Virginia after that. “Obviously, playing on the road anywhere is hard. There are some really quality teams (we play) on the road.”

It is also big for UCF, which walloped TCU 85-58 at home last week before falling 91-87 at Kansas. Dawkins has already started calling for UCF fans to fill their building, after BYU fans comprised about one-third of the fans at the arena last year.

“Our guys need to come out with the mindset that, hey we gotta take care of and defend our home court,” Dawkins said. “With that, we need our student section and Knight Nation to come out and give us the support that they have been giving us all year. I think we have had a good home-court environment in large part because of them. Their ability to come out and bring energy and enthusiasm has been amazing. So we need them again.”

Having won three straight, BYU finds itself tied for sixth in the conference with Baylor; UCF is tied for eighth with Utah and West Virginia.

“We are in a good spot. It kind of grinds the gears a little bit when you see the (standings), thinking about the one-possession games that didn’t go our way. But I think those games have helped us. I think they have helped us find ways to dig in,” Young said. “I think they will help us even more as we go through this thing. We just want to focus on the next game and just keep moving up those standings one game at a time.”