BYU basketball has a unique problem, and it's been glaring during the team's first tastes of Big 12 Conference action this season. It's been right in front of our faces all season: BYU's Big 3 of AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders, and Rob Wright III has been absolutely dominant.
This is a team unlike anything this program has ever seen -- and that includes last season with eventual top 10 NBA Draft pick Egor Demin. This is a team with legitimate NBA talent in their top three contributors, and they handled Kansas State on the road and completely eviscerated Arizona State on the Marriott Center floor on Wednesday night.
You may be wondering, considering how I framed the first paragraph, where is the problem. If I could hover my magnifying glass over the ASU result for a minute, I'll hopefully illustrate this a bit better.
In the Cougars' 104-76 victory (gentle now, boys), Richie Saunders posted a career-high 31 points on 6-for-8 shooting from distance. That is vicious and uncalled for, Mr. Saunders. Meanwhile, AJ Dybatnsa enjoyed a subtle 23 points while Rob Wright stuffed an extra 27 onto the box score.
Each of these players torched the Sun Devils from every spot on the floor. Mid-range. Short-range. Beyond the arc. This trio is deadly so long as they're between the baselines.
But it's the others that have me concerned about BYU's upside long-term. Saunders, Dybantsa, and Wright combined for 81 of the Cougars' 104 on the night. That's 77.9% of the team's total offense arriving at the hands of just three players. Kevin Young's bench scored just 15 points, with Tyler Mrus leading every non-big three scorer with eight points.
Against the giants of the Big 12 -- Arizona, Houston, Iowa State, etc. -- who's going to fill in the gaps and produce when the Cougars' top three fail to do it all themselves?
Injuries have played a significant part in this statistic, of course. Dawson Baker, Nate Pickens, and Brody Kozlowski, are all out long-term with injuries. Keba Keita was a game-time decision, and he sat out this one, having been in and out of the lineup in recent weeks.
Kennard Davis has been ice cold from three-point land, and he's struggling to get into rhythm without comparable usage to his days with Southern Illinois. Abdullah Ahmed, as great as he's been defensively, is not a scorer. Mrus and Kostic will have their numbers called frequently for an extra scoring punch. Can Mihailo Boskovic be a reliable pressure-release valve in a pinch? Dominique Diomande?
This team is still aiming for the Final Four. This is a squad talented enough and capable of reaching such heights in 2026, but if they fail to find production from the role players of this team, just three scorers will not be enough against the truly elite teams ahead of them.
BYU basketball boasts one of the best trios in the nation this season. But championships are won five-on-five, not three-on-five. Who will step up, and what is this team's true potential in its current form?