BYU and Utah had success against both Kansas teams within a week and proved why they are tournament teams.
What a wild four days of basketball in the Beehive State. On Saturday, BYU dominated Kansas State 80-65 while Utah barely survived Kansas 74-69. Utah edged Kansas State 74-67 the next Monday before BYU obliterated Kansas on Tuesday 91-57. It is safe to say that the State of Utah has a leg up on Kansas when it comes to basketball.
Both BYU and Utah put on a show this week. BYU was high-flying with dunks aplenty and Keba Keita’s career-high five blocks. BYU was up by as much as 22 and rocked the Marriot Center with excellent threee-point shooting and lockdown defense. Utah and Kansas got into a shootout but Utah pulled away late.
On Monday, the Utes got into another shootout, this time with Kansas State. Utah and Kansas State traded scoring runs before Utah pulled away. Kansas State lost their drive as the game went on and Utah prevailed.
When Kansas visited Provo, BYU got off to a hot start, starting with an 8-0 run. Kansas would take two timeouts early but they wouldn’t make a difference as BYU was too hot. The Cougars led by as much as 38 and won by 34.
For BYU and Utah, a win against Kansas is a big resume builder. Beating a Top-25 team is a big deal, especially a known powerhouse like Kansas. BYU and Utah were already in the tournament discussion but now they should be bigger talking points for the selection committee. Both teams should be ranked come Monday.
Overall, it was a good four days of College Basketball in the state of Utah. Two big wins by two good teams over a weekend is good for the state. Sweeps like these are rare and should be celebrated.
