BYU (17-4, 5-1) defeated Portland 78-65 Saturday night at the Marriott Center in front of a crowd of 14,857.
Here are three keys to the Cougars’ win:
- After falling behind by as many as seven in the first half, BYU closed out the first half strong with an 8-0 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Seneca Knight to go up 39-34 at halftime.
- Knight was one of four Cougars to score in double figures. Knight finished with 14 points; Te’Jon Lucas had 16 to go along with seven assists; Fousseyni Traore recorded another double double with 14 points and 10 assists; and Caleb Lohner added 13 points, including a monster dunk midway through the second half.
- BYU outscored Portland 32-16 in the paint and the Pilots, who entered the night as the nation’s top free throw shooting team, made just 9 of 18 from the charity stripe.