Overall Record: 21 – 10
Big 12 Record: 9-9
Previous 3 Games
3/7: W – 82 – 76 vs Texas Tech @ Home
3/3: L – 68 – 90 vs Cincinnati @ Away
2/23: L – 71 – 79 vs West Virginia @ Away
Personnel
Starters
| Position | # | Player | Class | Height | Weight | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point Guard | 1 | Robert Wright | Sr. | 6’1″ | 183 | 35 | 19 | 4 | 5 |
| Shooting Guard | 6 | Aleksej Kostic | Fr. | 6’4″ | 200 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Small Forward | 30 | Kennard Davis | Jr. | 6’6″ | 218 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Power Forward | 3 | AJ Dybantsa | Fr. | 6’9″ | 212 | 34 | 25 | 7 | 4 |
| Center | 13 | Keba Keita | Sr. | 6’8″ | 240 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
Bench
| Position | # | Player | Class | Height | Weight | Min | Pts | Reb | Ast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward/Center | 5 | Mihailo Boskovic | Sr. | 6’10” | 255 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Forward/Center | 7 | Khadim Mboup | Fr. | 6’9″ | 244 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Key Analytics
(Per KenPom.com – National Rank / Big 12 Rank in ())
KenPom Ranking – 25
Offense
Adjusted Efficiency: 126 (11) – Big 12 Only: 115.7 (4)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.8 (58) – Big 12 Only: 70.5 (5)
Average Possession Length: 15.9 (24) – Big 12 Only: 17.8 (11)
Effective Field Goal%: 54.6 (56) – Big 12 Only: 52.5 (5)
Offensive Rebound%: 34.2 (66) – Big 12 Only: 34.3 (3)
Three Point%: 34.7 (145) – Big 12 Only: 33.1 (12)
Two Point %: 56.4 (42) – Big 12 Only: 54.3 (1)
Defense
Adjusted Efficiency: 103.6 (68) – Big 12 Only: 116.1 (14)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.8 (58) – Big 12 Only: 70.5 (5)
Average Possession Length: 18 (284) – Big 12 Only: 17.8 (11)
Effective Field Goal%: 51.1 (161) – Big 12 Only: 54.2 (13)
Offensive Rebound%: 28.9 (105) – Big 12 Only: 29.2 (4)
Three Point%: 35 (241) – Big 12 Only: 37.9 (15)
Two Point %: 50.2 (105) – Big 12 Only: 52.7 (9
Thoughts
This BYU team came into the season with National Championship aspirations after purchasing the services of future top pick A.J. Dybantsa and Rob Wright and shelling out enough green to keep returning star, Ritchie Saunders.
That looks like one heck of a Big 3, and they started the season 16-1. Then they hit the meat of the Big 12 season, and the wheels fell off. They had a brutal 1-5 stretch featuring losses to Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma St. (!!!!), and Houston. They pulled out of their tailspin to knock off Baylor and Colorado and then resumed its descent by losing 4 of their next 5 before ending the season by knocking off Texas Tech.
Oh, and the Big 3 is now a Big 2 after Saunders blew a knee against Colorado (which kicked off their second nose-dive of the season). Saunders was the steady hand that was supposed to guide the young, uber-talented roster to the promised land, but now he’s watching from the bench, and the team looks lost.
Granted, they looked lost with Saunders on the court at times as well.
I’m not saying Kansas State is going to win this game. That’s crazy.
Still, they recently lost to West Virginia, and Kansas State isn’t much worse than the Mountaineers.
All I’m saying is that this game has the potential to be competitive because BYU is abysmal on defense, and Kansas State has a couple of guys on the roster who can fill it up. Turn this thing into a shoot-out, throw the kitchen sink at Dybantsa, hope they miss open 3’s, and try to drag this thing deep in the second half.
Without Saunders, this is an extremely young and untested lineup. It wouldn’t hurt to put a little game pressure on them and see if they collapse under the weight of all the cash and expectations.
Prediction
KenPom
BYU: 90
Kansas State: 79
Drew
BYU: 81
Kansas State: 77
Looking Into My Crystal Ball
I would like to remind everyone to never, ever…eveeeeeer, consider my predictions other than a complete homer view of the situation. I see a small opening for this game to be competitive, and I’m going to focus on that.
Odds are, this is a BYU blowout, but what fun is there in that?