With a 15-6 overall record and a 6-4 record in the Big 12, BYU basketball needs a strong month of February to make the NCAA Tournament in March.
Currently, the Cougars are a bubble team because of their slow start to conference play, with losses to TCU and Utah. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has BYU in his last four in after its most recent 81-75 victory at UCF.
After being unable to win a close game all season, BYU has won back-to-back games in crunch time against Baylor in overtime and UCF on the road. Kevin Young’s squad is playing its best basketball of the season and is on a four-game win streak heading into the most crucial 10-game stretch of the season.
The first key to BYU’s recent improved play is that the offense has ascended to one of the best offenses in the Big 12 and the entire country.
“ You know, I think we're finding our way offensively,” Young said. “You know, I think consistently our pace has improved a lot, you know, over the last four or five games.”
The Cougars are not just finding their way offensively; they have been dynamite on offense recently. In conference play, BYU is shooting a blistering 38.2% from 3 and 57.1% from inside the arc to lead the Big 12 in 3-point percentage, 2-point percentage and effective field goal percentage.
The only thing that has stopped BYU’s offense in conference play has been itself. The Cougars are No. 12 in turnover percentage in the Big 12, which is why they are only fourth in offensive rating at 115.2 points per 100 possessions. It took some time, but BYU has found its identity on offense and is playing the way many of us envisioned in the preseason. Despite not scoring a lot in transition, BYU is playing faster and running Young’s offense with precision, even if it looks different on a night-to-night basis.

In its win against Cincinnati, BYU shot 15 of 24 from 3 to blowout the Bearcats 80-52, and the Cougars assisted on 18 of its 28 total field goals. In that game, the Cougars were running many different off-ball actions to get Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell and Kanon Catchings wide-open looks.
In contrast, BYU only made eight 3-point field goals against Baylor and were a mismatch hunting with ball screens all game. The Cougars only assisted 14 of their 32 made field goals but had enough one-on-one shot-making from Egor Demin, Dawson Baker, and Catchings to survive a memorable overtime against the Bears. In its most recent game against UCF, BYU played its best drive-and-kick game of the season.
The Cougars assisted on 22 of their 28 made field goals on their way to another stellar offensive performance. BYU has proven that it has the personnel to beat teams in different ways, which they will need to continue to prove as they head into a gauntlet of the final 10 games of the season.
The second key to BYU’s recent success is that they have found lineups and substitution patterns that put everyone in positions to succeed.
The player who has given BYU the biggest life since his role has increased is senior transfer Mawot Mag. Since Mag’s first start against Oklahoma State, BYU is 5-1 and is a made free throw away from 6-0. In those six games, the Cougars have been dominant on offense and much improved defensively, with a +16.9 net rating. The new starting lineup of Demin, Knell, Saunders, Mag and Keba Keita has been Young’s most used lineup, and it is working. In 71 minutes together during Big 12 play, that lineup has a staggering +36.3 net rating.
“ You know, we just felt like Mag's intensity defensively kind of gave us some better matchups to start the game,” Young said.
One of the main reasons that the starting lineup has worked so well is its versatility and length, especially with Saunders and Mag being able to play together. They are BYU’s two best wing defenders, which expands what Young and his staff can do schematically on defense.
“ Defensively, I think the level of intensity that they play with complements each other extremely well,” Young said. “We found some rhythm with being able to kind of do certain things when those two guys are in action specifically together that maybe we wouldn't do with other pairings. So, it gives us a little bit of versatility there.”
On the offensive end of the floor, Mag has found his role as the glue guy. His ability to move without the ball, set screens and cut to the basket has made up for his lack of floor spacing. Against UCF, Mag had a screen assist for one of the game's most important shots.
Richie Saunders 3 vs UCF pic.twitter.com/y7jacjielD
— Bballoneofone (@bballoneofone) February 4, 2025
And more important than anything is that Mag helps this BYU team play fast. He is hyper-aggressive in transition and attacking closeouts. He moves the ball, he attacks the rim and he plays Young’s point-five style basketball. He was the missing piece to unlocking BYU's best starting lineup.
While BYU has figured out its starting lineup with the insertion of Mag, it has also solidified its bench rotation and depth has shined. Against Baylor, BYU's bench outscored the Bears 45-7 in the Cougars' breakthrough overtime win. After being moved to the second unit Dallin Hall has been effective distributing to his teammates and has looked more comfortable playing with his big man Fousseyni Traore.
The two have been running ball screens together for three seasons at BYU, and the duo is one of BYU's most lethal offensive combos. Alongside Hall and Traore, Baker and Catchings have found their spots to come in and do what they do best: score. The Cougars are up to third in the Big 12 in points off the bench at 26.4 points per game, a huge development for a team that wants to play fast and wear down opposing teams.
BYU has legitimate, deep nine-man rotation and it appears that Young and his staff have found the rotations and lineups that work to put the Cougars in positions to succeed.
BYU has found a winning formula that works, but need to continue stacking days and wins against the best teams in the Big 12. Starting with No. 20 Arizona on Tuesday, BYU plays six of its final 10 games against top 50 Kenpom teams, four those games are against teams in the top 15. The road ahead of the Cougars is a gauntlet, but if they continue to play as a cohesive unit, it is going to be an exciting month in Provo.