BYU coach Kevin Young’s first introduction to analytics came in Philadelphia, where Sam Hinkie presented him a heat map of over a million shots taken in the NBA with their percentages.
The 76ers general manager made it clear: threes and layups only from here on out.
“I was like, ‘OK, that’s great,’’ Young said. “So how are we going to get these threes?”
“He goes, ‘I don’t know. That’s your job to figure out,’” Young recalled, laughing.
A decade later, it’s safe to say Young’s found the formula.
His BYU team shot 50% from three, knocking down 18 triples, to beat No. 12 Iowa State, 96-92. It didn’t need double-overtime this time. But it did deliver a game that broke the Big 12 record for most combined 3-pointers.
Iowa State hit 13 triples, led by Curtis Jones’ 31 points. Richie Saunders countered with 23 for the Cougars, including the game-clinching three with 47 seconds left.
“I mean, to go 24 assists on 30 made shots is an incredible number,” Young said.
Here’s what else Young thought about the record-breaking night, and the semifinals that await.
BYU had its best shooting night of the season to advance to its first Big 12 semifinal in program history.
“I just told the guys in the locker room, you don’t just show up to the gym and go 18 of 36 from three. You know, it’s not even just shot making. It’s how those threes are generated. That’s something that we pride ourselves on in terms of spacing the floor, in terms of trying to turn down a good shot for a great shot. Our guys have been that way all season. So for them to do it under the bright lights here, against a defensive team that is their hallmark, that was a really good carry over for us.”
Jones hit seven threes overall and had 22 points in the first half. He was held to nine in the second, guarded by Trey Stewart. It let BYU climb back from an eight-point deficit.
“The show that Curtis Jones put on in the first half was pretty remarkable. You know, felt like no matter what we did, he was going to make a shot. So we, our guys, did a good job of weathering the storm. ... Jones was a one-man wrecking crew, like he just caught fire. It definitely wasn’t fun to watch from our seat, but I’m sure from y’all’s seat, that was pretty spectacular. So credit to him for just a great individual performance.”
‘He was cooking. I can’t lie, it was fun to watch,” Stewart added. “He’s a good dude. It was fun to play against. I really like that defensive challenge. I said fun to watch, in terms of fun to watch that battle happen. Not fun to watch them go off against us. But yeah, really just taking pride.”
With BYU’s lead closing in the final minute, Saunders buried a three on a kickout from Dallin Hall at the top of the key. It put the Cougars up four, 92-88.
“I mean, maybe a little bit [surprised how open he was],” Saunders said. “But just [Dallin Hall], incredible passer, you know. He got to two feet, and luckily I was the one that had a little window. But, you know, that two feet is so, so key for us. Yes, we shot 50% from three or whatever. That’s incredible. But it’s because of the shots that we were taking. And those are the kind of shots [that work], versus just off the dribble or early shot-clock shots.”
BYU played 10 players against a worn-down Iowa State team. The Cougars had 41 bench points, led by Fouss Traore’s 15 and Mihailo Boskovic’s 10. Stewart played 18 minutes and Hall played 26.
“I thought tonight was kind of the epitome of where our depth shined,” Young said. “Obviously they were down bodies. So I thought in the second half, when Jones started missing some shots, I thought that was a testament to wearing them out a little bit. Then here comes Trey, and just kind of going back and forth. And not just him. I thought Jefferson kind of got a little tired as well, you know, all their guys, quite frankly.”
On a potential matchup with No. 1 seed Houston, or 16th-seeded Colorado, on Friday at 5 p.m. MDT:
“Colorado obviously came in here with some pride after having a disappointing part of the conference slate. They’re playing with house money in a lot of ways, which can be dangerous. And then obviously Houston, they speak for themselves. So for us, we played [Houston] super early on. They were our first Big 12 road game, and they smacked us. We’ve grown a lot since then. We feel like we’ve found more of our identity since that time. So whoever we play, we’ll try to go out there and be the best version of ourselves.”
