BYU moves into rare position for program with win over Georgia State

BYU made another overmatched opponent look like just that Saturday night at the Marriott Center, pounding Georgia State 86-54 and improving to 10-1 on the year. 

The No. 18 Cougars never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 9-0 lead and never looking back. 

The Panthers did make things interesting late in the initial half, finding a way to cut BYU’s advantage to five, but never could get any closer than that as the Cougars remained in control of the contest from start to finish.

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“It was a great win,” BYU junior big man Aly Khalifa said. “(I) feel like we played super hard from the jump all the way to the end. Especially the start of the second half, I feel like we separated ourselves from them … I feel like everybody played well.”

Getting good nights from multiple players has become a theme to the school’s season. Saturday, the Cougars had their sixth leading scorer on the year when sophomore forward Richie Saunders scored a career high 20 points off the bench. Saunders’ career night proved timely after senior sharpshooter Jaxson Robinson, the school’s sixth man and leading scorer, tweaked his ankle contesting a fast break layup. 

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BYU coach Mark Pope said that Robinson might have been able to come back in the second half but instead the fifth-year Cougars’ coach and his staff decided it would be better to take full precautionary measures. 

In the end, BYU’s offensive firepower, sans Robinson, was more than enough to get the job done.  

Fortunately for the Cougars, though Robinson went down, they got a player back from injury when junior guard Dawson Baker made his BYU debut. The UC Irvine transfer, who has been battling a foot injury, ended the night with six points in nine minutes and displayed how deep the school’s roster is. 

Pope lauded his team’s depth following the victory. “Depth is required if you’re going to be a high level basketball team,” he said. “That’s what’s going to help us get through this gauntlet that we’re about to start here.”

Prior to Saturday night, BYU and Georgia State had only met on one other occasion – a 2012 meeting that saw the Cougars beat the Panthers in Provo by 18 points. 

BYU bested that advantage with a 20-point lead less than three and a half minutes into the second half of the schools’ second go-around. The Cougars would extend that lead as time wore on, ultimately earning another 30-plus point victory.  

With its win over the Panthers, BYU remains perfect at home on the year, having won six of those seven games by 16 or more points. 

What added to the Cougars impressive night against Georgia State was their ability to take care of the ball, ending the night with a season low four turnovers. 

“It was a real Achilles heel for us last year,” Pope said about turnovers. “These guys, all summer long, were self monitoring; and it matters to them … I know they’re really proud of themselves and they should be because (only four turnovers is) pretty remarkable.”

Just about a third of the way through the season, the school has performed remarkably well in many ways. Most importantly, in the win column as Saturday’s victory marks the fastest BYU has reached the double-digit win mark since 2010. That season saw the Cougars begin 10-0 behind a historic season from Jimmer Fredette as he took over the college basketball world by storm. 

This year, BYU has again turned some heads in the college basketball community but remains focused on the task at hand in hopes that this season can turn out as magical as the one 13 years ago. 

“It’s awesome,” Cougars’ sophomore point guard Dallin Hall said when asked what it means to be on a similar track as that Sweet Sixteen team. “It’s exciting but it’s just one game at a time for us.” 

BYU will resume play next week when it welcomes Bellarmine to Provo Friday. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m MST.