Kevin Young called being in the NCAA Tournament “surreal.”
But it was real enough for him on Thursday, when, after his BYU team beat VCU, 80-71, he supplanted “surreal” with another word: “exhausting.”
In a good way.
Young had watched March Madness as a kid, gotten into it big time, and once he became a coach, even from his place on a faraway bench in the NBA, he guessed that competing in this win-or-walk-away environment would be, using two other words, “fun” and “exciting.”
Never did he utter descriptions like, “nerve-racking” or “anxious” or “cursed.”
Neither did his players. Richie Saunders, who scored 16 points, said the tournament is a place to get the “job done,” to be an “aggressor.” Trevin Knell labeled it just plain “awesome.”
Indeed. If Young and any of his 10 guys who played against the Rams seemed weirded out or vexed or nervous in this year’s first appearance in the Big Dance, there was nothing in their speech and demeanor and, most importantly, their performance that gave any indication of it.
BYU’s early ousters of the past, even among current Cougars who were on those eliminated teams, were somebody else’s problems, not their own, not now.
(John Leyba | AP) BYU center Keba Keita, top, reaches for the ball over Virginia Commonwealth forward Christian Fermin during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Denver.
All the talk swirling around 6-seed BYU’s supposed tough draw against 11-seed VCU dissipated into the thin air at Denver’s Ball Arena, as the Cougars’ shots accurately spun through it, popping the net, enabling them to put upon the Rams what they’d made a habit of putting upon every opponent (other than Houston) over the past six weeks — defeat.
Doubt among some had sprouted not just out of BYU’s multiple first-round dancing failures in bygone years, but also out of that woeful showing in a now-infamous Big 12 semifinal game against Houston, a game in which Cougar-on-Cougar crime started and pretty much ended at the defensive end, where BYU’s explosive offense too often blew up and apart as its players mishandled and misfired the rock. VCU was thought to have a defense that could disrupt the Cougars if not in the exact same manner, something similar to it.
Um. No, it could not.
Yeah, there were some fumbles and stumbles, including 12 turnovers, but the BYU outfit that showed up here looked more like the efficient group that scored 96 points against another difficult defensive team, Iowa State, rather than the season-worst 54 it stirred against Houston.
It was obvious that the Rams had studied the Cougars’ recent loss and were set on replicating — as they had against other opponents for most of the season — the resistance that caused it. But this time BYU’s shooters were not rushed into their attempts, nor were they bumped off track in creating them, instead moving the ball in more familiar fashion. Clear it was that Young, his assistants and players had studied that same film, and corrected what had made it so painful for them to watch.
BYU went ahead and shot 50 percent in both halves here, getting the ball up the court against pressure, executing throughout in the half-court. Guys working inside and out, although the Cougars hit just seven 3-point attempts. They made up for that by getting the ball where it needed to go, all timely and proper, and down the stretch converting from the line. You could tell by the way the Cougars played with renewed force and focus that they were fed up with the prognostications, after what happened against Houston, that they couldn’t or wouldn’t manage VCU’s defensive pressure.
(John Leyba | AP) BYU guard Dallin Hall, back, shoots over Virginia Commonwealth guard Joe Bamisile during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Denver.
They could and they would.
BYU also hit the boards hard, understanding that VCU was not a great shooting team, but the Rams for most of their season had heaved up shots and then gone to work on the offensive glass, scoring in that manner.
On Thursday, not only did the Cougars out-rebound VCU, 40-31, they also hauled more offensive boards, 14-12. Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore combined for 18 rebounds, and Traore scored 13 points, hurting VCU around the basket; Keita blocked four shots.
It was BYU’s ball-handlers, though, that facilitated the win, facing down so much heavy pressure, from end to end, and still organizing the Cougars’ sets once on attack. Just about all of them contributed in that way, specifically Dallin Hall, Saunders, and Egor Demin. Demin did turn the ball over four times, but he helped his teammates in a major way with an assortment of shots, making 6 of 11, with three bombs, totaling 15 points,
“We wanted to key in on rebounding, not putting them on the line, and taking care of the ball,” Young said. “We won those three areas.”
As for Demin, his up-and-down 6-foot-9 freshman point guard, the one rumored to be a first-round NBA draft pick, he simply said: “Sky’s the limit.”
Slowly, BYU forged ahead in the first half, accelerating into the break with the count at 39-28. Four minutes into the second half, the Cougars went up, up, up by 18 and then 20 points, playing smart, quick and tough. Knell repeatedly said before this game that his team wanted to play BYU’s brand of ball. Welp, that five-minute stretch was pretty much the best of it.
“We were playing fast,” Saunders said, “and sharing the ball.”
(David Zalubowski | AP) BYU guard Egor Demin, left, looks to pass the ball as Virginia Commonwealth guard Zeb Jackson defends during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Denver.
From there, VCU wouldn’t shrink away, but couldn’t catch up. The margin stayed mostly in double-digits, BYU making enough clutch shots and free throws to keep the lead somewhat comfortable.
As fierce and physical as high-level college hoops can be, how fierce and physical winning basketball requires it to be, Young was fully aware that what was in his players’ minds preceded and precipitated what would be manifested on the court. He instructed them that the best way to power through rugged defense was to play with the aforementioned focus and force — and so, they did.
“Proud of them,” he said.
That way they could erase what happened in Kansas City, and thereby, whether they acknowledged it or not, exorcise old BYU opening-round ghosts that might be hanging around. More significantly, in getting past VCU, the Cougars tee’d up their chances of conjuring more success in succeeding rounds. Some so-called experts had predicted that BYU would die an ignominious death against VCU, same as it ever was, but more than a few had countered those negative vibes with guesses that the Cougars could make a run to the Sweet 16 or even the Elite 8.
They’ll play 3-seed Wisconsin on Saturday.
Those are chapters — be they pipe dreams or probabilities — in BYU’s 2025 book yet to be written. What has already been penned on the pages is fairly remarkable — a slower start at season’s launch transformed to a faster finish now, a team that improved as the games and the weeks went by, an overall record of 25-9, a third-place finish in a competitive conference, and now a strong step forward in the Big Dance with those potentially promising steps ahead still.
“We’re not ready to be done yet,” said Saunders.
“Survive and advance,” is the way Young put it. He added: “Thrilled to get the win. … It’s super rewarding.”
The coach said all along that what he experienced all those seasons spent as an assistant in the NBA applied every bit to his first season as a bossman in the college game as well. Namely, that the postseason is where the real action — and the real satisfaction — is found. Young can figure out later whether it’s surreal, too.
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