PROVO, Utah — Richie Saunders scored 22 points to lead BYU, and the Cougars handed No. 23 Kansas a monumental 91-57 defeat on Tuesday night.
At 34 points in margin, Tuesday’s loss tied for the worst under Jayhawks coach Bill Self and was the third-worst defeat in the storied program’s history, according to ESPN Research. In 2021, Self’s team also lost by 34, that time to USC in the NCAA tournament.
The defeat also meant the Jayhawks, who fell to Utah 74-67 on Saturday and have not led through their past 80 minutes of basketball, suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season in conference play. This one could be easily explained. They committed 15 turnovers and allowed 52% shooting en route to the result.
Trevin Knell added 15 points and Mawot Mag had 13 to help the Cougars (18-8, 9-6 Big 12) register their third straight win. Saunders, Knell and Mag combined to connect on 11 3-pointers.
“I thought we were awful, and I thought they were great,” Self said after the loss. “I think that BYU could have beaten anybody tonight. They were great. And we didn’t do anything to make them play less great. … Our offense stunk, but that wasn’t it. It wasn’t our offense. It was we couldn’t stop them or getting momentum to stop them.”
Hunter Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Kansas (17-9, 8-7) trailed by as many as 38 points in the second half.
“Obviously we’re going to catch a lot of flak, whether it’s fans or national media, and rightfully so because we just lost by damn near 40,” Dickinson said. “Nobody is going to feel bad for us now that NIL is the thing, and players are getting paid and everything like that. Nobody is going to feel bad for you. They’re going to expect you to perform like a paid player.”
Efficient shooting and relentless defensive pressure powered the Cougars. Mag and Keba Keita each scored a pair of baskets to fuel a 14-2 run that gave BYU a 22-7 lead just seven minutes into the game, much to the delight of the fans.
“We were so poor,” Self said, “that I don’t think we felt the full energy of a building than if it had been a tight game.”
Kansas had a chance to close the gap after BYU went six minutes without scoring a basket. The Jayhawks cut the deficit almost in half, pulling to 25-17 on a 3-pointer from Rylan Griffen.
The Cougars regained a double-digit lead behind a flurry of 3-pointers. BYU made five 3s over the final 6:15 before halftime, highlighted by back-to-back outside baskets from Saunders and Knell, to extend its advantage to 46-26 at the break.
Tuesday night was a statement win for the Cougars as much as a statement loss for the Jayhawks. BYU started 2-4 in Big 12 play but has won seven of nine since.
“We’ve been waiting for a win against a really storied program and a team that’s good,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “Tonight was impressive by how our guys carried out the game plan on both ends of the floor.”
For the Jayhawks, the losses are becoming more and more confounding. According to ESPN Research, this is the seventh loss of the season for Kansas as a ranked team playing an unranked opponent. That is tied for the program’s most such losses in a season in The Associated Press poll era, which began in 1948-49. The Jayhawks also suffered that number of losses, in that qualification, in the 1998-99 and 1986-87 seasons.
This also marked the first time Kansas — the preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll — lost by 30-plus points against an unranked team since the poll began in 1948.
“We need to regroup. We need to get away from each other for a day, go home, and hopefully be able to,” Self said. “A lot of times with teams, there needs to be something that happens that pulls everybody together that is us against the outside. And we’re going to have an opportunity to do that for sure.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
