Once again, a promising BYU basketball season ends with a whimper, this time after a deflating loss as a higher seed than their opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Many reasons can be given for the Cougars first round flameout. There's no getting around the devastating, season-ending injuries of All-Big 12 guard Richie Saunders and bench scoring machine Dawson Baker. Those in-season injuries changed the entire complexion of Kevin Young's roster as did the absences of three expected contributors who never suited up this year in Brody Kozlowski, Nate Pickens, and KJ Perry.
But what came into sharp focus in BYU's demoralizing loss to Texas is one glaring roster hole Kevin Young & Co. need to address next year, and it's this:
BYU must add a traditional seven-foot center to patrol the paint.
BYU's overreliance on undersized big men and stretch fours is a fatal flaw
The main reason Texas will continue dancing in the NCAA Tournament while BYU is going home is the Longhorns had 7-foot-0, 255-pound Matas Vokietaitis, and BYU had no answers for him.
Vokietaitis singlehandedly dominated the Cougars. He was a man among boys scoring 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, but it was his 16 rebounds that turned the tide in this game. He inhaled offensive rebounds to give Texas a plethora of second shot opportunities, while also dominating the defensive glass to limit the Cougars to one shot.
His 16 rebounds were a complete outlier this season and BYU's overreliance on undersized big men was a primary reason. Vokietaitis's prior season high in rebounding was 11, which he accomplished twice. On the season he averaged 15.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, yet he channeled his inner Wilt Chamberlain against the Cougars who had zero answers for his length and girth.
Cougar fans should have seen this coming. For years now BYU has relied heavily on undersized big men. BYU's two best "bigs" this year were 6-foot-8 Keba Keita and 6-foot-9 Khadim Mboup. The last true post scorer the team has featured over the last half decade was 6-foot-6 Fousseyni Traore.
Kevin Young tried to address this fatal flaw with the in-season acquisition of former G League player Abdullah Ahmed. But the 6-foot-10, 220-pound big man struggled mightily in his first season in Provo averaging just 1.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.2 minutes per game, though his 1.4 blocks were a nice addition.
While the Cougars have had some 6-foot-10-ish stretch fours in recent years like Mihailo Boskovic, Noah Waterman, and Aly Khalifa to put some height on the roster, none of them can hang with traditional centers down low.
Yes, BYU was fortunate to sign 6-foot-11 center Xavion Staton this year as the No. 37 overall prospect in the class of 2025, but it was apparent early on he would need a year or two to add some bulk before becoming a regular contributor. His injury-shortened freshman campaign lasted just nine games, scoring five points and pulling down four rebounds this year.
The lack of a true seven-foot big man is the fatal flaw in BYU's roster.
Adding a classic big man should be priority No. 1 for Kevin Young & Co. when the transfer portal opens.