The BYU Cougars have certainly found their rhythm in the second half of the season as BYU went from a team that was unsure if they would make the NCAA Tournament to now a 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and should get a favorable seed in March Madness.
After having a double-bye in the first two rounds of the Big 12 Tournament, BYU took to the interesting-looking Big 12 court as they faced the Iowa State Cyclones. Iowa State started the season strong, but hit a few bumps in the road in Big 12 play and ended up a 5-seed in the conference tournament.
With a 4-seed and 5-seed matchup, it is expected that the game is going to be close, and that is exactly what happened. The Cougars went into halftime down by four 49-53 but outscored Iowa State 47-39 in the second half to take the lead and secure the win. Behind star forward Richie Saunders, BYU's leading scorer of the season, BYU was able to take care of Iowa State for the 96-92 win to advance to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals for the first time ever.
Even in just their second season in the Big 12, BYU is making their presence known not just in basketball but in other sports as well this year. However, on the basketball court, BYU has been a force no one saw coming, something that happened yet again this year. After losing their head coach, Mark Pope, to Kentucky in the offseason, BYU was left as a team no one really knew what to do with.
Well, they certainly left their mark today with the win over Iowa State, a tough team. Saunders finished the game with 23 points and five assists, leading the team in both categories. The Cougars got a lot of help from their bench as both Mihailo Boskovic and Fousseyni Traore, who both scored double digits with 10 and 15 points.
The scoring was truly spread around, though, as each BYU player that stepped onto the court scored against Iowa State. It was a close game down the stretch for the Cougars, but when BYU needed to keep Iowa State at arm's length away, they were able to hit the shot needed until it came down to hitting free throws.
BYU will now rest the rest of the day but certainly will keep an eye on the 16-seed Colorado adn 1-seed Houston game to see who they will face tomorrow in the semifinal.