The Cougars hit the road to face Providence on Tuesday – Deseret News

New coach Kevin Young’s BYU basketball team passed its first important test of its first season last week when it split a multi-team event (MTE) in San Diego looking like a bona fide Big 12 contender.

“I don’t really think a road (game) is that different from home. The game is the same. You go out, put together a game plan and have to execute it, whether you’re at home, at a neutral location or on the road. So that’s really our entire focus.”

— BYU coach Kevin Young

The Cougars (6-1) lost in heartbreaking overtime to No. 23 Ole Miss, then rebounded less than 24 hours later to beat North Carolina State 72-61 in the third-place game of the Rady Children’s Invitational. BYU’s Richie Saunders made the all-tournament team.

“Overall, I was most pleased with our response when we came up short in a game where all that mattered was coming up short,” Young said. “We didn’t let our heads down and approached the second game very objectively with a quick turnaround. I think that says a lot about the character of our boys.”

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The next big test comes Tuesday when BYU travels across the country to face the Providence Friars (5-3) in the annual Big East-Big 12 Battle. Tipoff will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the 12,400-seat Amica Mutual Pavilion and the match will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

It will be BYU’s first contest in a true road atmosphere this season, but Young said the approach won’t change. The Cougars flew to Rhode Island on Sunday and had a lively practice Monday morning at Brown University’s basketball facility.

“I don’t really think a road (game) is that much different than at home,” Young said. “The game is the same. You go out, put together a game plan and have to execute it, whether you’re at home, at a neutral location or on the road. So that’s really our entire focus.”

Young said the Cougars had a little difficulty leaving San Diego after the game Friday afternoon because of a technical issue with their chartered plane and didn’t return to Provo until Saturday. But the flight back east went smoothly and the Cougars are relatively healthy with point guard Dallin Hall and post player Keba Keita overcoming recent injuries.

“We’re ready to go,” Young said.

He acknowledged that there was some conference pride at stake and mentioned that he received a nice congratulatory text from Baylor coach Scott Drew after BYU’s win over NC State.

“Some pride in the conference (expressed) after one of our MTE games, which I thought was a nice gesture from him,” said Young, who didn’t see much of that in the NBA as an assistant with the 76ers and Suns. “Yeah, I’m learning that side of college basketball where you learn to root for your own conference and the teams you’re playing and stuff like that. So it’s a nice thing.”

Providence is 3-2 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle, while BYU is experiencing its first such game. BYU is 2-0 all-time against Providence. The last meeting was won by BYU 66-52 at the Marriott Center in Provo.

However, BYU’s new assistant coach, John Linehan, is familiar with the school. He played for the Friars and was a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002. Linehan ranks second in NCAA history in steals.

“He knows these guys well,” Young said, adding that BYU takes an “all hands on deck” approach when preparing the scouting report rather than having an assistant create the entire game plan.

Of course, Young and his staff inherited the game, like almost all non-conference games on the 2024-25 schedule.

His first reaction to having to take a cross-country trip the first week of December?

“I just remembered the NBA, when you take those long trips from the West Coast to the East Coast. That’s just the nature of the business, the nature of the animal. I didn’t really put much stock in it,” he said. “I just thought it would be a really good opportunity to play against a really good team in their home atmosphere and have John Linehan come back to his alma mater.”

None of the teams will be ranked. Providence was knocking on the door before going 0-3, losing to Oklahoma (79-77), Davidson (69-58) and No. 14 Indiana (89-73) at the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Junior guard Jayden Pierre, 6-foot-1, leads Providence in scoring with 13.1 points and is one of the lightning-quick penetrators who have caused problems for BYU this season.

“Talented team. They have some dynamic guards that can really score, shoot and put pressure on you. So we have to be a lot better there than we were against Ole Miss,” Young said. “…We’ve been working on our coverages and are able to mix things up. … But so far we have not managed to perform at a high level. They will certainly (test) this part of our game plan.

“They have talent and will be really hungry to get a win on their home court. So it will be a big challenge for us,” Young concluded.

BYU is still receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 released Monday, but not as many as before the loss to Ole Miss. The first NET rankings were released Monday, and BYU landed at No. 48, while Providence is at No. 104. The Cougars are No. 35 in the KenPom rankings.

Young said he is still learning the importance of the NET and KenPom rankings and has leaned on his assistant Chris Burgess and Akash Sebastian, BYU’s new director of analytics and strategy, in this area.

“I’m aware of the margin of victory and this and that, and it depends on who’s playing in which league,” he said. “At the end of the day, man, go out there and play well and all this stuff will take care of itself. Of course we have to be aware of the impact it has. But I don’t think it necessarily changes things like our day-to-day approach.”