After being 'woke up' at Providence, can BYU find more road success at No. 14 Houston?

PROVO — Kevin Young's first introduction to the Big 12 as head coach of the BYU men's basketball team went about as well as can be expected.

The Cougars pulled past visiting Arizona State 76-56 after a career-high, 30-point effort by Richie Saunders on New Year's Eve for Young's 10th win as a collegiate head coach.

Through the first dozen games of the first-time college head coach's career, BYU (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) has experienced a variety of emotions — but never one thing: a road win.

The Cougars' only true road game was a blowout, an 83-64 loss at Providence in the Big 12-Big East Battle where five-star freshman Egor Demin was injured for the next several weeks.

Perhaps that's why Kelvin Sampson's Cougars are an 11.5-point favorite ahead of Saturday afternoon's tilt (12 p.m. MT, ESPN+). Or maybe losing that game was the best thing that could've happened to Young's Cougs before they hit the road a second time this weekend.

"I personally try not to make a big to-do of road or home; a game plan is a game plan, and the other team is the other team, whether you are at home or on the road," Young said. "But I think more than anything, the Providence game just woke everybody up — led by me."

Since the loss to the Friars, the Cougars have responded with four straight wins, each without Demin until the projected NBA lottery pick returned to the starting lineup with 4 points, seven assists and a pair of steals in Tuesday's win over the Sun Devils.

In the four games since against Wyoming, Fresno State, Florida A&M and Arizona State, BYU ranks sixth in the country by barttorvik.com with the No. 8 adjusted defense and No. 31 adjusted offense in NCAA Division I. The Cougars are rebounding at an elite level, with a rebounding margin of plus-13 that is tied for the best in the country and includes a top-25 effort on the defensive glass.

"We learned a lot in that game, probably the best thing that's happened to us in this point," Young added. "I think our guys are ready to take what they've learned on the road against a really good Houston team who played really well in their opener. I think we're all just really excited for the opportunity."

Of course, so has BYU's next opponent. Houston (9-3, 1-0 Big 12), which is led by double-digit scorers L.J. Cryer (15.1 points per game) and Emanuel Sharp (13.7 ppg), has won five consecutive contests since a 73-70 overtime setback to San Diego State back back on Nov. 30. That includes a 60-47 hammering of Oklahoma State on the road in the red Cougars' conference opener.

BYU has Sampson's attention, too — especially after Saunders' 30-piece to start the week.

"They've got a really good roster," said the 11th-year Houston coach who has led the Cougars to five straight second-weekend NCAA Tournament finishes or better (not including the canceled postseason of 2019-20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). "The Demin kid is such a good passer, and a lot of times his open threes comes from deep penetration. They do a great job reading the pick-and-roll, and Saunders is a different player than he was last year.

"Last year, he was more of a secondary guy," Sampson added. "This year, I'm sure through hard worker and having a new coach, he's got a different role. He's suited for it; he's a tough kid. I really like him; good size, really good shooter, athletic. He's a good player."

Saturday's game wraps up the first week of conference play, and allows BYU to settle into a cadence of mostly Tuesday-Saturday games through the end of the regular season in March. That's a benefit for both the players and coaches, including a long-time NBA assistant who has regularly voiced his surprised at the amount of practice time he's had at BYU.

"Knowing the cadence will be good," Young said. "I think we've got a nice blueprint in terms of how we handle it."

There's another advantage of playing on the road, too: more in-conference road trips, former UC Irvine transfer Dawson Baker noted. That means more time on planes, in hotel rooms, and locked down with his teammates.

"The routine of it will be a lot better," Baker said. "It's kind of hard during the season when you get a week of practice at a time, and everyone is just building up the anticipation and wanting to play again. I'm excited to get back on the road again with these guys, to get into the routine again, and have practices that focus on certain things.

"And we'll play more games, which will be a lot more fun."

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