BYU guard Kennard Davis Jr. reacts after a basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Miami, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Kissimmee, Fla. | Phelan M. EbenhackJackson PayneFri, November 28, 2025 at 2:55 AM UTC·4 min readKISSIMMEE, Fla. — Prior to Thursday, BYU fans hadn’t been able to see much of Kennard Davis Jr. on the court this season.
The Southern Illinois transfer had only appeared in two games and was out of action for the past 19 days — first for an injury, and then for serving a suspension after a violation of team rules.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut just over an hour prior to the Cougars’ Thanksgiving matchup with Miami at the ESPN Events Invitational at Walt Disney World in Florida, BYU announced that Davis had served his two-game suspension and would make his return against the Hurricanes.
It ended up being a major boost for the Cougars.
Davis led all scorers with 18 points Thursday, adding five rebounds, hitting four catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and playing excellent defense in BYU’s 72-62 win over Miami.
“That’s what we brought Kennard Davis here to do, is really guard and to make shots,” BYU head coach Kevin Young told reporters after the victory.
Eleven of Davis’ 18 points and three of his triples came after halftime, playing a crucial role in helping the Cougars dig out of a 4-point halftime hole en route to the 10-point triumph.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDavis’ second 3-pointer of the night put BYU ahead 42-40 with just under 16 minutes left to play in the second half. From that point on, the Cougars would never relinquish the lead again.
“With Keba (Keita) rolling to the rim, and AJ (Dybantsa) getting downhill, we have a lot of things that (opponents) have to worry about, so a guy like Kennard is going to have a lot of opportunities to make shots,” Young said.
“Obviously he did that tonight, (he) made some huge ones, too. I’m proud of his resilience and just proud of the way he goes about his business.”
After trailing 33-29 at halftime, BYU opened the second half on a 30-12 run and never looked back. Davis’ aforementioned go-ahead 3-pointer kickstarted a 10-0 Cougars run where Miami failed to score across a five-minute stretch, all but tipping the scales in BYU’s favor for good.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDefensively, the Cougars overcame Miami’s physicality and turned in arguably their best defensive effort of the year. The Hurricanes scored a season-low 62 points — a far cry from their season average of 92.2 — and shot just 37.9% from the field and 22.7% from long distance.
“I say this to our team a lot. I think every game that you play has a life of its own,” Young said. “And tonight, we were just searching for the right buttons, and the zone (defense) I thought slowed them down and allowed Keba to kind of hold down the middle for us, and I think that’s where the game really, really changed.”
Keita feasted around the rim, swatting seven blocks as the crown jewel of BYU’s zone.
“I want to win, man. Whatever it takes, you know?” Keita said. “I’m not backing down for anybody. So whatever it takes, you know, I want to win. So that’s what I was trying to do, nothing special.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“He’s an unbelievable shot blocker with great timing,” Young said of Keita. “You know, he’s been through a lot too, he’s had some concussion issues over the last two weeks that he’s battled through. Proud of him to be able to step up. He looked more like himself tonight.”
AJ Dybantsa scored 16 points with eight rebounds, Rob Wright III added 17 with four assists, and Richie Saunders scored eight points while dishing out a game-high five assists.
As a whole, BYU shot 45.5% from the field and 47.4% from 3-point range, sinking 9 of 19 triples.
The Cougars will now face either Dayton or Georgetown in Friday’ ESPN Events Invitational championship game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“All year, we’ve been putting ourselves in some really tough games with how we scheduled it,” Young said. “This was an event we were really looking forward to playing in. Obviously, you know, the ACC is a great league and they produce really good teams, and that was no different tonight playing Miami. We’re looking forward to seeing who we’re playing tomorrow and giving ourselves a chance to, you know, get better by playing really good teams.”
BYU head coach Kevin Young, center, gives instructions to his team during a timeout in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Miami, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Kissimmee, Fla. | Phelan M. EbenhackAdvertisementAdvertisement
