BYU basketball leans on its stars to decimate Holy Cross in 2025 season home opener

Thank you, BYU basketball, for playing the part of a first-aid kit to my gaping football-shaped wound on this fine day. Thanks to my time zone, I stayed up for the 2 AM kickoff between the Cougars and the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and strangled the urge to sleep despite the hideous display in Lubbock. So again, I'd like to share my gratitude to BYU basketball for decisively handling business, as my tank is running on fumes.

The Cougars rolled through the visiting Holy Cross during the Marriott Center home opener on Saturday evening. Opening the game on a 10-0 run, which ran all the way to 17-2 before a Joe Nugent mid-range jumper converted the Crusaders' first field goal of the game, a tick over five minutes of game time having already passed.

I won't bore you with the play-by-play for this recap; it suffices me to say that the Cougars shoveled points onto the board a mound at a time and stifled the Holy Cross resistance.

I'd like to applaud Kevin Young's offense for playing unified basketball. A team with as many stars as the Cougars could be expected to struggle with chronic 'hero ball'-itis. AJ Dybantsa, Rob Wright, and Richie Saunders are all certifiable stars at the collegiate level, but the basketball doesn't stick, it slings.

Dybantsa's willingness to share the ball especially stood out in this one. He was a natural connective passer, receiving and distributing the rock in the same motion regularly. Dybantsa's unselfishness was lubricant to the offensive machine, and that machine worked in Provo tonight. That's not to say he was hesitant to make like Pinterest and do it himself, because AJ had a hunger for baskets, scoring 17 points on just 10 shots.

Robert Wright III is a pinball, and I mean this in the best possible way. Speedy, bouncy, unpredictable, yet always under control, Wright penetrates the perimeter, attacks the paint, and ricochets from opening to opening with a dizzying barrage of head fakes, hesitations, and angular precision. After failing to convert at the rim for much of the Villanova game, Wright led the way for the Cougars to aggressively hunt close-range baskets.

Close-range is this team's M.O., at least through two games. Despite the lofty total (98 points in 40 minutes), BYU hit just five total three-pointers as a team. Dybantsa, Wright, and Saunders are exceptional complementary pieces for a frontal assault on the rim. Equal parts elastic and powerful, these players seek the rim like a shark with blood in its nostrils. The Cougars shot 38 two-point field goals to their 25 three-pointers. If I can repeat myself from the Villanova game -- this is not a traditional run-and-gun BYU team. This squad hunts easy baskets and boasts the power to drive through any resistance, should they need.

But most impressive of all is the team's insistence on playing as a team. Combining to derive greater potential than they would possess as disjointed pieces. Eight players logged multiple assists in this one (that's an insane number) and BYU's assist total reached 20 with just six turnovers against it. Holy Cross isn't a team on par with a top-10 squad like the Cougars, so dominance is to be expected, but the fact that Kevin Young has his team playing this cohesively in game number two is highly encouraging.

Shoutout to Dominique Diomande as well. He was a defensive pest and a menace to every rim in the Utah County area.

Stifling on one end, liberal on the other, BYU basketball controlled the pace, tone, and atmosphere throughout. Need evidence of this? Look no further than the 58-25 halftime score -- advantage Cougars. The team maintained that pace all the way to a 98-53 final and carried their record to 2-0.