Things didn't quite go according to plan for BYU basketball during their most recent road trip to Lubbock, Texas. In fact, every meeting with Texas Tech in the last calendar year seems to have gone awry for the Cougars, whether it's on the hardwood of the basketball court or the turf of the gridiron.
Kevin Young's team was completely swamped in the rowdy United Supermarkets Arena, as the Cougars squandered a nine-point second-half lead into a 13-point defeat to the Red Raiders.
AJ Dybantsa was held to a season-low 13 points, the team shot 23% from range, a mark they haven't surpassed since their win against Arizona State, and the team reached a breaking point against a great team in a tough environment. That's Big 12 basketball. It happens. It stings, but good teams learn, adapt, and arrive stronger in their next appearance.
But I'd like to focus a bit more on this game before fully working to forget the atrocities I witnessed in the final minutes of competition. Specifically, I'd like to highlight the performance of one man. You already know who I'm talking about -- you read the headline before clicking on the article, didn't you?
Khadim Mboup impressed me on Saturday, and I believe he'll be a highly important cog in the machine with BYU basketball.
Standing at 6 feet and 9 inches, Mboup is a redshirt freshman from Senegal, formerly with the NBA Academy in Africa. A physical specimen, though incredibly raw as far as ball skills, Mboup entered the game in Lubbock with a fascinating task: mark Tech point guard Christian Anderson from baseline to baseline. Anderson dismantled the Cougars' defense with Mboup off the floor, scoring 22 points and shooting 40% from distance in the Red Raiders' victory.
But with the much larger Mboup playing his shadow, Anderson's threat was noticeably neutralized, and the Cougars' defense kept them within striking distance, despite connecting just once from distance until the second half.
Mboup's foot speed and lateral quickness was eyebrow-raising during his time on the floor, matching his assignment step-for-step while keeping close enough to dissuade any jump shots from the shorter Anderson. For the same reason a golfer wouldn't attempt to swing through a tree trunk, there would be little reason to attempt a shot with Mboup in your grill.
Pair that with collecting just two fouls, and it's clear that his defensive versatility is unlike most players of his size and build. Chris Voigt's connection to Africa supplied the Cougars with an incredibly fascinating prospect in Mboup.
He exited the game against Texas Tech early after his head made contact with the leg of a Tech player, but his impact was clear in his 17 minutes of play.
Mboup hasn't seen consistent minutes in his first season with the Cougars, notching just three minutes against Utah but 15 minutes against TCU, I'll be curious to see if his specialized role as a perimeter defender becomes a mainstay in his minutes, or if his Texas Tech showcase was a one-off.
Either way, Mboup deserves praise for being a lone bright spot when Cougar Nation was left seeing red in Lubbock.