Bill Self: No. 23 Kansas was 'awful' in blowout loss to BYU

Field Level Media|published: Wed 19th February, 01:02 2025

Feb 15, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Kansas Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson (1) recovers a rebound against the Utah Utes during the second half at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

Richie Saunders scored a game-high 22 points and BYU led for all but 26 seconds of a 91-57 Big 12 Conference blowout of No. 23 Kansas on Tuesday in Provo, Utah.

The margin of defeat matched the largest for Kansas in 22 years under coach Bill Self, who said, "I thought we were awful, and I thought (the Cougars) were great. They made everything they looked at and then any mistake that we made they made us pay."

Trevin Knell added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars (18-8, 9-6 Big 12), who bombarded the Jayhawks with 14 3-pointers in 36 attempts and shot 51.5 percent from the field. Mawot Mag tallied 13 points, going 3 of 4 from 3-point range, while Keba Keita contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Dallin Hall chipped in 10 points and eight assists.

Hunter Dickinson scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for Kansas, while reserve David Coit added 11 points, but it wasn't close to being enough. The Jayhawks made only 36.5 percent of their shots, including 9 of 32 3-point attempts, and were thumped 43-33 on the boards.

Hoping to regroup after taking a 74-67 upset loss Saturday night at Utah, Kansas (17-9, 8-7) instead was outclassed in every aspect of the game. The Jayhawks turned the ball over 15 times, 14 of them via steals, and forced just 10 turnovers. They allowed 20 fastbreak points.

BYU opened up a 20-point halftime lead and simply kept adding on against a helpless opponent. The margin reached 30 at the 14:06 mark of the second half via a 3-pointer by Egor Demin and climbed to 38 in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

The pregame storylines concerned BYU's need for a signature win to help its NCAA Tournament chances and the Jayhawks' desire to simply play sharper basketball. It didn't take long to see which side would get what it wanted.

Knell splashed a 3-pointer to start the game and the Cougars led 8-0 before Kansas got on the board. The margin reached 10 at the 14:42 mark when Keita dunked off a lob pass from Knell.

The margin stayed in double figures for the game's final 26:16, reaching 46-26 at the break as Knell drilled a corner 3-pointer with 1:18 left.

--Field Level Media

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