KISSIMMEE, Fla. — This past weekend, BYU put together perhaps its most complete performance of the Kevin Young era thus far in a 98-70 dismantling of No. 23 Wisconsin.
But now comes a new challenge for the No. 9-ranked Cougars in their quest to “stack days,” as Young would say: building off of the win over Wisconsin with a pair of games in consecutive days more than 2,000 miles away from Provo.
Luckily for BYU, the setting for such a slate has much more warmth and sunshine than a typical Provo November.
The Cougars are spending their Thanksgiving week in Florida, where they’ll take part in the ESPN Events Invitational at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex just outside of Orlando.
Thanksgiving on Thursday will feature BYU facing off with ACC foe Miami at 3 p.m. MST, while Friday’s action will pit the Cougars against either Georgetown or Dayton (tipoff time still to be determined).
“(We’ll) just try to understand why we were good (against Wisconsin) and go out there and execute it again,” Young told reporters Wednesday at the BYU team hotel in Florida. “I thought defensively we got off to a great start in that game, executed the game plan. Then offensively, I mean, that’s the blueprint. I thought we spaced them out really well. We made a few adjustments with the lineup with a little bit more shooting, I thought that helped.
“But I think the main message with the players is just to make a play for somebody else. We have a lot of talent, obviously, and I think if they all have that mindset we can get some quality possessions like we did in that game.”
The story of BYU’s triumph over the Badgers was the Cougars’ much-improved chemistry, as they appeared to gel better together than they had all season beforehand.
BYU’s depth also flashed in a major way against Wisconsin, as role players such as Dominique Diomande, Khadim Mboup, Tyler Mrus and Dawson Baker stepped in and shined during a pivotal nine-minute second half stretch where star AJ Dybantsa ended up on the bench due to foul trouble.
With Dybantsa off the floor, the Cougars increased their lead from 13 points to 19, becoming a breakthrough of sorts in figuring out how best to unlock more production out of BYU’s rotation.
“That was a big moment, I think, for our team,” Young said of those non-Dybantsa minutes. “… I thought a lot of guys stepped up, you know, rewatching on the film … I think it was a good confidence builder, not just for the team, but everybody, AJ included, knowing that you can maybe have some trust in other guys that stepped up during that time.
“… I think the chemistry’s growing. I think for me, schematically, some of the actions that are best for this group are starting to kind of rear their head where, you know, keeping in mind that it is a different team with different skill sets, you’re trying to figure out the best way to go about it.”
Coming to Florida should be another boost in the chemistry department, as the added time together on the road for a holiday event is practically designed to yield such a result.
“I think it’s a big part of the season. You spend so much time with your teammates and with your coaches when you go out on the road, it’s kind of all you have,” Young said. “Especially over the holidays, to have the group kind of bond together is cool.”
Added Richie Saunders, who will be playing in his fourth holiday multi-team event at BYU: “It’s fun, it’s cool to get away and have another extra prep day where we can spend more time together and not just have it be on the court, which I think is really good for the team.”
As for Thursday’s matchup, BYU will face a Miami squad that is 5-1 on the year but still has yet to earn any sort of signature win — the Hurricanes’ victories have come against opponents with an average KenPom ranking of 275.
But that isn’t to say Miami isn’t talented, as the Canes did play defending national champion Florida tough two weeks ago and cut the deficit to as close as three points in the second half of an 82-68 loss.
Hurricanes forward Malik Reneau has posted 21.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game thus far, with three of his teammates also averaging double figures in scoring and the team shooting a collective 52.9% from the field.
In facing a top 10 team in BYU, Miami has an opportunity to earn that first signature win and establish greater legitimacy within the always-intriguing ACC.
“Super athletic group,” Young said of the Hurricanes. “Coach (Jai) Lucas has done a good job with assembling some guys that can really put pressure on the rim. Offensively, they score it at the rim and in the paint at an extremely high rate, (they) get to the foul line quite a bit. So, you know, it’s gonna test our toughness, our ability to be connected on the defensive end.”
Though BYU was able to effectively thwart Wisconsin’s perimeter-heavy attack, Young calls Miami’s offensive style “wildly different,” with the Hurricanes averaging 50 paint points per game and another 14 points in transition.
Thus, much of BYU’s successful defensive game plan against Wisconsin won’t translate on Thursday.
“With this team, it’s less action-based and more big picture-based. This is a group that wants to get to the rim, they want to get to the foul line,” Young said. “So what can we do to negate that? We’ve got to be connected, like I said, and guard the ball with more than one player, then have great individual one-on-one defense, and then at the end of it, not foul, because they get to the foul line quite a bit.”
“They’re really good at getting downhill and really good in transition,” Saunders said. “So just for us, making sure any gap that they can see, they’re actually seeing two or three (BYU players) in it, having to challenge them to make the skip pass and kick it out.”
In regards to availability for Thursday, Young said BYU is “getting the final word” for Kennard Davis Jr.’s playing status, but that everyone else “outside of Nate (Pickens) and Brody (Kozlowski) are good to go.”
But for the Cougars who do take the floor against Miami, consistency will be key for continuing the success from Wisconsin and taking it even further in a quick two-game Florida swing.
“We try to have our approach be the same,” Saunders said. “(Beating Wisconsin) was a really awesome thing, but we’re going to attack this game just like we attacked that game and every game before that. But, I mean, we’re just really seeing that we have so much that we have to grow, so much growth that needs to take place.”
BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) and guard Richie Saunders (15) talk as BYU plays Wisconsin in a men’s basketball game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
