KSL BYU and college sports reporter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One week ago, Kennard "Moo" Davis Jr. was a starting shooter going through a slump, Dominique Diomande was a seldom-used reserve, and Khadim Mboup was a fan favorite who couldn't find much favor for playing time as BYU men's basketball rode a three-game losing skid to UCF, West Virginia and Cincinnati.
But after a 68-48 win over those same Mountaineers in the second round of the Big 12 men's basketball tournament, even Phil Collins may be stating the obvious of these Cougars: "Take a look at me now."In two games against the same opponent in 11 days, BYU couldn't have been much different.Riding the confidence of an 82-76 win over then-No. 10 Texas Tech in an emotional regular season finale, the Cougars bottled up lightning in back-to-back wins over struggling Kansas State and that same West Virginia squad that punked the visitors on the glass in a 79-71 win during a two-game east-coast road trip that head coach Kevin Young called one of the season's low point that included the loss of star senior Richie Saunders to an ACL injury."It was a dark moment for our season," he said. "I just had to figure out — we have too much talent. Let's figure this out, even without Richie."We took it back to the basics and we just dumbed it down with our defense," he added, "got a lot less coachy and a lot more just do it harder, longer, stronger, faster — and kept it real simple. And our guys have really taken to that, led by these two tonight.""These two" referred to AJ Dybantsa, the Cougars' five-star freshman and nation's leading scorer who had another standout performance with 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals; and Davis, who scored a season-high 20 points for his third straight double-figure game for the first time in 2025-26.Davis was so focused while shooting 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range, including 17 in the second half, that he joked he "didn't see either" Chiefs coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes seated courtside at the T-Mobile Center. KENNARD DAVIS JR vs West Virginia | Big 12 Tournament20 PTS | 3 REB | 2 STL pic.twitter.com/8qqTFVOHwG— BYU Men's Basketball March 12, 2026 "I was locked in," he added.That's been the case for a BYU team who turned a three-game skid into a triple-game slump buster to start the postseason, showing flashes of the former top-25 team that initially ha
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