The freshmen are earning their stripes.
BYU rode outstanding performances by freshmen Richie Sanders and Dallin Hall in a blowout win over Division II Western Oregon 97-64 Thursday night in the Marriott Center.
At one point in the game, the Cougar freshmen were a perfect 10 for 10 before a crowd of nearly 12,000.
The expected finals week win lifted the Cougars to 7-5 heading into Saturday’s rivalry game with a hot University of Utah (9-2) team. The fact Mark Pope saw growth in his freshmen in a two-game win streak is some positive momentum his team desperately needs as the first third of the season winds down in the dead of winter.
Saunders made six of his first seven shots for a career-high 17 points and seven boards. Hall, who started at point guard, hit 5 of 5 shots from the field in 17 minutes and finished with 14 points. Tanner Toolson added a career-best 10 points with 2 of 4 from distance.
Saunders’ hustle on both ends of the court was a highlight of his play for the second straight game, as he displayed both quickness and athleticism.
The former Wasatch Academy star drove and finished, made putbacks, rebounded, stole the ball and set up Gideon George on an alley-oop dunk.
While George led all scorers with 21 points with 4 of 8 from 3-point land, Pope also got great defense from Trey Stewart, who had eight assists and no turnovers.
“Dallin is taking advantage of every minute he gets,” Pope said on KSL radio afterward. “I thought Richie was really, really solid throughout the game. He had some tough defensive assignments that he managed pretty well.
“I thought he was really relentless on the glass with energy plays, and I thought those two guys were great. Toolson is one of those guys who, as he gets more opportunities, he’s gonna play better and better and he certainly has a terrific upside.”
The turnover bug that’s haunted the Cougars all season didn’t exactly disappear Thursday despite the competition as BYU had 13 turnovers, three below their season average per game.
Four came from center Atiki Ally Atiki, who started in place of Fouss Traore, who did not dress for the game.
“He played much better in the second half,” said Pope of Ally Atiki. “We put him in a very difficult spot with Fouss sitting out tonight.”
“We just have to keep working, working,” said Ally Atiki.
Rudi Williams, who scored a BYU career-high 26 points off the bench in the win over Creighton in Las Vegas last week, had eight points Thursday.
Gideon George had 13 first-half points, including a one-handed dunk finish on a drive to lead the Cougars to a solid 44-32 lead at halftime, while Hall had 11 in that stretch.
The Cougars started the game knocking down shots from distance, making 7 of their first 15 as Saunders, George and Noah Waterman each made two before intermission.
The meter on BYU’s 3-point shooting is an important metric because the Cougars tend to win and lose on productivity from distance. When it’s a high percentage, Pope’s squad tends to feed off that and it shows on both ends of the court.
BYU shot 50% from the field for the game, one of its best efforts of the season, with 45% from beyond the arc.
Pope, who enjoyed his 75th career victory at BYU, got 46 points from his bench.
Free throw shooting continues to stump this team, however, and that could prove to be the Achilles’ heel in a big game with the Utes. In this game, the Cougars converted just 64% on 14 of 22 from the stripe.