What Kevin Young and Alex Jensen said about each other’s programs after their first BYU-Utah matchup

If things go according to plan, Saturday’s game between the BYU and Utah men’s basketball programs will be the first of many pitting Cougars coach Kevin Young against Utes coach Alex Jensen.

Young and Jensen have some similarities in their journeys toward becoming the head coach at their respective schools: they both have G League head coaching experience and they both spent more than a decade in the NBA as assistant coaches before landing in their current roles.

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Young has one year of experience on Jensen in his current job — he is in his second year as BYU’s head coach, while Jensen is in his first season coaching his alma mater.

That familiarity with each other has fostered a healthy respect between the two coaches. On Saturday, Young’s No. 9 BYU team got the best of Jensen’s Utes, as the Cougars held off Utah, 89-84.

BYU (15-1, 3-0 Big 12) relied on its Big 3 — Robert Wright III, AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders — to carry the load.

Wright scored 23 points and added six assists, Saunders logged a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds, along with three assists, and the freshman sensation Dybantsa contributed across the board with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, one block and a steal.

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BYU led for more than 31 minutes against its rival, and the Cougars never trailed in the second half, though Utah climbed within one at one point.

“It’s hard to give up 89 points and win, right? And if you look at all the good teams in college that win, (they) are the teams that defend and rebound,” Jensen said, about two factors that prevented Utah from pulling the upset.

He was then complimentary about the program Young is building in Provo.

“BYU has done a great job. Kevin does a good job. It’s hard to have those guys be together. They’ve done a great job as an institution, and (BYU athletic director) Brian (Santiago), giving the resources to the program,” Jensen said. “Just like (Utah’s recent loss to No. 1) Arizona, it’s a great lesson for us to learn from. They play well together.”

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Utah (8-8, 0-3 Big 12), for its part, had arguably its best overall effort of the season, perhaps only bested by a one-point win over Ole Miss during nonconference play.

Terrence Brown (25 points, five assists, three rebounds, two blocks) and Don McHenry (21 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal) led a spirited Utah attack Saturday, while James Okonkwo’s energy and results — 13 rebounds, 4 points and two assists — helped the Utes keep pace in front of an electric crowd.

“I’ve known Alex for a long time,” Young said. “We’ve coached against each other (a) long time ago in the G League. We sort of broke into the NBA around the same time, and when I was with the Suns, he was with the Jazz.

“We had a ton of battles, so I’m very familiar with him. He’s a good person, but you still want to beat him in a game like that.”

BYU’s coach, too, was complimentary about the organization and work that Jensen has already put into revitalizing the Runnin’ Utes program.

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“He’s smart, man. He’s a smart coach, and he’s just figuring it all out, all the idiosyncrasies. He joked before the game — in the NBA, you do the anthem and the coaches wave and you play the game; in college, before the game, you walk the line, shake, and he’s still trying to figure out if we’re supposed to do this,” Young said.

“He’s still figuring everything out, but he’s a smart guy, and (Utah basketball general manager) Wes Wilcox, too. They’re smart. They have a lot of experience, and this will be some fun games over the years between our groups.”