Slow Start Dooms BYU Once Again in Road Loss to Kansas

A poor first half was too much to overcome in Lawrence

Jan 31, 2026; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; BYU Cougars guard Richie Saunders (15) shoots against Kansas Jayhawks guard Tre White (3) during the first half at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

On Saturday afternoon, BYU's comeback attempt at Kansas came up short. Once again, it was a bad first half that doomed the Cougars against the Jayhawks. Kansas put up a season-high 53 points in the first half on 9/12 from the three-point line. Kansas took a 53-32 lead into the halftime break.

BYU's struggled on both ends of the floor, but it was the poor defensive effort that was the difference. Kansas' hot shooting was primarily driven by the wide open looks from the perimeter.

Up to this point of the season, BYU has been a good team. They could be an elite team if they found a way to get off to better starts. In BYU's losses to Kansas, UConn, and Arizona, BYU faced double-digit deficits at halftime. They lost all three of those games by single digits.

Like they always do, the Cougars battled back in the second half. BYU cut the lead to as low as four in the closing minutes. However, a strong final minute by the Jayhawks ended the game at 90-82. BYU outscored Kansas 50-37 in the second half. It was all for not as the Cougars dropped their second game of the week.

The story of the second half was veteran Richie Saunders. Saunders had a career high 33 points. He also had a double-double thanks to his game-high 10 rebounds. Saunders scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half. He was 5/9 from three in that second half.

After Saunders, it was Rob Wright III that led the Cougars in scoring. Wright had 18 points on 7/16 shooting.

The headline of this game was the matchup of Darryn Peterson vs AJ Dybantsa. Peterson got off to a perfect start and really led the dominant first half for the Jayhawks. He had 18 points at halftime on 6/7 from the floor. Peterson didn't play most of the second half due to what appeared to be an injury.

Dybantsa got off to a slow start. Once he got going, he managed to score 17 points on 6/12 from the floor. Dybantsa was relatively quiet most of the night.

Besides the big three, BYU's role players did provide enough scoring punch in this game. BYU's big three scored 68 of the 82 points and Keba Keita scored 9 points. In other words, four BYU players accounted for 77 of their 82 total points.

If BYU is going to get better as a team in February, they will need more scoring output from players like Kennard Davis, Mihailo Boskovic, and Aleksej Kostic.