Considering Kennard Davis' production in his previous stop at Southern Illinois, it's hard not to feel underwhelmed by his production to this point in this, his first season under Kevin Young at BYU.
Davis, a 16.3 points-per-game producer with the Salukis last season, knew he'd be joining the Cougars in a smaller role than he had grown accustomed to in the Missouri Valley Conference. Of course, teaming up with the already established All-Big 12 honoree Richie Saunders, incoming Baylor transfer and 5-star prospect Rob Wright at point guard, and top-3 lock for the 2026 NBA Draft in star freshman AJ Dybantsa.
Related: BYU's Big 3 of Saunders, Dybantsa, and Wright is Cougs' greatest strength and weakness
Davis was never going to be the number one option in Kevin Young's offense, but it seems he's still struggling to find his rhythm in a lesser role in Provo. In his sophomore season, Davis was a 3-point sharpshooter, hitting 37.6% of his 5.3 attempts per night. Now a junior, he's shooting three-pointers at the same rate, though crawling to a 33.3% rate to this point in the year.
He's been streaky, living on a diet of mostly catch-and-shoot spot-up attempts, struggling to find the bottom cylinder at all, especially since the beginning of Big 12 play. Since the conference schedule began with the Cougars' Manhattan meeting with Kansas State, Davis has converted just four of his sixteen attempts (25%) in-conference.
This isn't an unforeseeable cold streak, either. He's been playing hot-and-cold more than a Katy Perry-loving teenager in 2008 for the better part of the season. He shot 50% or better from beyond the arc in four of his first five appearances in royal blue, but has since eclipsed 40% in a game just once since then, when he connected on five for 11 against Eastern Washington.
But the ice-cold shooting is beginning to pile up, and I can't help but wonder if he'll find his groove again this season.
Against Utah, he was 2-for-7. Just 1-for-5 at Kansas State. 0-for-7 against Pacific. In the climactic comeback against Clemson, he was just 1-for-6.
Fortunately, even an offensively limited Davis is a plus overall. He's still averaging nearly eight points per contest, converting 51.9% from inside the arc. On the defensive end, he's providing some vital perimeter defense in his starting minutes. Defensively, the Cougars' rotation is very shallow outside of the forward and center position, and Davis' contributions have made him a lock for the starting five.
I've gone into agonizing detail as to why BYU's over-reliance on their big three of Dybantsa, Saunders, and Wright could be deadly against the best teams in the nation. A sure scoring punch from Davis will be critical to making the Cougars' attack truly undefendable. If he continues to struggle from deep, however, BYU's ceiling becomes uncomfortably limited.