Consistent storylines continue to push 10-1 BYU in win over Georgia State

Georgia State, a team stocked with Power 5 transfers, fell victim to BYU by the same modus operandi as the 10-1 Cougars have mustered this season.

BYU led by as many as 34 points at 84-50 before coasting to an 86-54 victory in the Marriott Center on Saturday night.

These lopsided affairs are becoming the absolute norm for BYU on neutral courts as well as in the comfortable confines of the Marriott Center.

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The 3-pointers continued to fall for Mark Pope’s team — this time he saw 15 made in 38 attempts — 45 points from beyond the arc. That’s a 39% team average from deep.

A year ago his team was a turnover machine. In this game, against an athletic, physical Georgia State squad, BYU had just three turnovers until a deep bench player threw away a pass in the key with a couple of minutes to play.

Again, one of the more impressive things for BYU continues to be its capable offense from the bench.   

The Cougars just might be fielding two good teams. Nobody plays more than 28 minutes, plenty of guys play about 20. And the bench guys can fill it up.

On this night the Cougars’ leading scorer on the season, Jaxson Robinson, who comes off the bench to provide a remarkably consistent scoring punch at 17 a game, was injured early in the first half.

What to do?

Well, in this case, Richie Saunders stepped up and pulled off a Robinson.

Saunders scored a career-high 20 points on 70% shooting. He also pulled down six rebounds and his total playing time was 24 minutes.

Saunders is a mini nuclear power plant.

For minutes played off the bench, he is one of BYU’s most efficient and energetic athletes.  Saunders scored 12 points in just 11 minutes in the first half to help BYU offset Georgia Southern’s 9-0, which BYU widened to 39-26 at the half.

Saunders’ work came from offensive rebounds, inbound plays for scores, driving lay-ins, fast-break finishes and 3-point shots. His mastery of simple hustle plays is remarkable. He scored 12 in the first half and they came on 5 of 6 makes and a perfect 2 for 2 from beyond the arc. His work came when BYU’s leading scorer, Robinson, was on the bench with an ankle sprain and Georgia Southern was trying to make a run.

Saunders epitomizes the fuel and secret sauce that is propelling this team to a top-five NET ranking by the NCAA; hustle, unselfishness, looking for teammates, and sharing the ball.

On this night BYU made 32 field goals on 23 assists.

That’s servitude.

“We’re just trying to refine who we are as a team and be relentless,” Saunders told BYUtv.

Said Pope: “Our team depth isn’t a luxury but a necessity.”

Pope said he expects Robinson to return quickly because he had a mild ankle sprain. “He doesn’t miss anything and he could have come back and played, but we were cautious,” Pope explained to KSL Radio.

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Another solid story on this night was Noah Waterman’s continued uptick after going 0 for 7 in a loss to Utah. He had 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting and is 12 of 18 in the last two games. 

Waterman dumped in a pair of 3-point shots early in the second half as Trevin Knell (15 points) added another and Spencer Johnson scored an old-fashioned 3-point play on a goal and add-on from the free-throw line to break the game open.

The other budding story of the night was the consistency of transfer center Aly Khalifa, who had his second-straight game of six assists, most of them of the spectacular kind leading to teammates making layups.

Khalifa now has a 14 to 1 assist-to-turnover ratio as a 7-foot Cougar center.

Cal-Irvine transfer Dawson Baker made his debut in a Cougar uniform after battling a foot injury for most of a year. He scored 6 points in 10 minutes. Folks have been praising his abilities and fans got a glimpse of his footwork and midrange shot.

“I was anxious to get out there and show Cougar Nation I can play basketball,” Baker said afterward on BYUtv. “Everybody’s bought in and we have a lot of shooters. We play hard defense and rebound.”

Baker made the first field goal attempt of his BYU career and, if healthy, may have the best game off the dribble on the current Cougar team.

Saunders and Dallin Hall are a close second.

It remains to be seen if Baker, who was considering surgery in the offseason, will be able to play like himself with added minutes as the season progresses through his injury. Pope’s game plan is to bring him along slowly.

The Cougars are shooting to be at a 12-1 mark before Big 12 play begins with remaining games against Bellarmine and Wyoming. After that they will host league foe Cincinnati on Jan. 8.