These three crucial plays fueled BYU's electrifying win over No. 10 Texas Tech

Kevin Young's BYU Cougars played one of their best games of the season on Saturday night with an 82-76 home victory over No. 10 Texas Tech. The massive win snapped a dispiriting three-game losing streak for the Cougs, as at times during that stretch it looked like the team was ready to pack it in and call it a season.

BYU was reeling coming into the Texas Tech game. The Cougars lost All-Big 12 guard Richie Saunders to a torn ACL on Vantine's Day. Since then, BYU's offense had been stagnant and overly reliant on AJ Dybantsa and Robert Wright III playing iso ball. There was little scoring from anybody not named Dybantsa or Wright. Keba Keita wasn't himself. Defense appeared optional at times, especially guarding the 3-point line.

The Cougars now come out of the Texas Tech game with hope for multiple victories in both the Big 12 tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

Here are the three crucial plays that led to BYU's potentially season-saving victory:

1st half, 8:52 remaining: Keba Keita's massive rejection

BYU trailed 26-16 when Keba Keita came up with this momentum-shifting swat at the rim.

First, this block required ridiculous amounts of athleticism from BYU's center. Keita hasn't quite been himself as of late but is rounding back into form. This swat proves it. Keba had his best game in a long, long time with nine points (4-5 FG), 11 rebounds, and this one block. BYU is a different team when Keita plays like this.

From a game standpoint, Texas Tech was on a 7-2 run and had just pushed their early lead to double-digits. BYU fans know all too well that these Cougars fall behind too far, too fast, and then struggle to get back into the game. A dunk here by the Red Raiders could have started that avalanche.

Instead of BYU falling behind by 12, Keita came up with this block which triggered a Robert Wright III transition bucket to cut the deficit to a more manageable 26-18.

1st half, 5:54 remaining: Kevin Young puts Mboup and Keita into perimeter coverage

With just under six minutes remaining in the first half, the Red Raiders were on fire from the 3-point line. They had already knocked down seven long-range bombs and showed no signs of letting up. At that point Kevin Young made an in-game adjustment and started leaving big men Keba Keita and Khadim Mboup in man coverage on Tech's deadly 3-point shooters:

This brilliant tactical adjustment led to a shot clock violation on that possession. But more than that, the success of that one play gave Coach Young and his staff a template to follow throughout the second half. While the Cougs still mixed things up on the defensive end throughout the game, they regularly left Keita and Mboup in man-to-man coverage on the perimeter to reduce the amount of open looks from deep.

And it worked, for the most part.

While Texas Tech hit five more 3-pointers in the first half after this specific play, giving them 12 in the first half, they only made four 3-pointers in the entire second half as the Cougs let Keita and Mboup lock down the 3-point line more often. BYU's perimeter defense was much better in the second half, and props to Coach Young and his staff for making this adjustment.

1:37 left, 2nd half: AJ Dybantsa's cross-court pass sets up Kennard Davis Jr.'s 3-pointer

The score was tied 75-75 with 97 seconds left to play. It was in that crucial moment that AJ Dybantsa made an incredible cross-court pass to set up a Kennard Davis Jr. 3-pointer, which proved to be the biggest bucket of the game:

While AJ Dybantsa is celebrated for leading the nation in scoring, it's winning plays like these that make him so special. AJ could have forced the action. He could have tried to split the double team. He could have tried to play hero ball.

Instead, Dybantsa drew a double team, found his open teammate, then made a beautiful cross-court pass to set up the biggest bucket of the game. And while it's easy to praise Dybantsa for his basketball brilliance, we have to give love to "Moo" Davis. He shrugged off a slow start to finish with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 4-of-10 from the 3-point line.

These three crucial plays fueled BYU's win.

And that win restored the hope of BYU nation for a potentially special postseason run.