BYU tuned up for Friday’s massive non-conference encounter against San Diego State with an easy 110-63 win over visiting Houston Christian on Monday night at the Marriott Center.
The Cougars host the Aztecs, who played in the national championship game last April, on Friday at 7 p.m.
Monday, Spencer Johnson scored a career-high 20 points, Trevin Knell added 19 and the Cougars made 15 3-pointers en route to the season-opening victory.
Here are 3 keys to BYU’s win:
- Coach Mark Pope has said the Cougars will live and die with the 3-point shot this year to narrow the perceived talent gap in the Big 12, and on this night the Cougars thrived. They were 10 of 27 from beyond the arc in the first half, when it really mattered, although the visitors offered very little resistance.
Playing for the first time since the WCC tournament in 2022, Knell hit a triple 11 seconds into the game and finished 5 of 9 from 3-point range. BYU finished 15 of 43 as a team from beyond the arc.
- Houston Christian was ice-cold in the first half, but BYU’s defense had something to do with that. Whether San Diego State on Friday and visiting Big 12 teams next year will shoot as poorly remains to be seen — probably not — but Pope’s guys were pretty good against a Southland Conference opponent. Houston Christian shot 25% from the field in the first half, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
In the second half, the Huskies shot much better as the Cougars’ intensity waned, making 60% of their shots in the final 20 minutes.
- Pope went with the starting five of Fouss Traore, Noah Waterman, Trey Stewart, Johnson and Knell. Dallin Hall, wearing a protective sleeve on his right knee, came off the bench with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first half and had one bucket in seven minutes. He finished with six points on 3 of 4 shooting.
Dawson Baker, the transfer from UC Irvine, is still nursing an injury and did not play.