Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Richie Saunders and sidekick Trevin Knell were magnificent shooting the basketball in BYU’s 91-81 win over outmanned Arizona State on Wednesday night in front of 9,383 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona.
Saunders scored 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range, while Knell was 5 of 6 from deep and finished with 18 points and four assists.
But don’t forget about the contribution from backup point guard Dallin Hall, who has quietly returned to the form last year that made him an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection.
With starting point guard Egor Demin struggling a bit — the freshman had 10 assists, but committed four turnovers and was 1 of 6 from the field in 25 minutes — Hall was the catalyst in the second half as BYU held off repeated surges by the Sun Devils.
Hall was 5 of 8 from the field and had 13 points and four assists in 22 minutes. He made the shot of the game, too, drilling a 3-pointer with 5:16 remaining after ASU had trimmed BYU’s lead to 9.
“Dallin was great tonight. He helped close it out. He really stepped up a lot in the last month, month and a half just in terms of his aggressiveness helping us close games out,” said BYU coach Kevin Young. “That’s been huge, his strength with the ball in his hands, him and Fouss (Traore). Those are two pretty strong dudes coming downhill at you. It has been a good combination, those two.”
Traore added 10 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes, filling in nicely when starting center Keba Keita needed a break. On a night when the Cougars struggled mightily at the free-throw line, going a collective 6 of 15 from the stripe, Traore was 2 for 2 on his freebies.
Traore has emerged as BYU’s best free-throw shooter, making 82% of his attempts (50 of 61). Saunders is shooting 75.7% from the stripe, while Knell is 72.2% and Hall is 68.2%. Dawson Baker, who is often called upon to shoot technical free throws, is 67.7% and made 1 of 2 after ASU coach Bobby Hurley got a technical Wednesday night.
Free-throw shooting is about the only thing wrong with BYU’s offense right now. The Cougars have scored at least 90 points in their last three games against three of the top defenses in the country. Young didn’t seem too concerned after the off performance against ASU.
After all, Saunders made two clutch ones in the 96-95 win over Arizona last Saturday.
“Tonight was an anomaly, to go 3 of 11 in the second half,” Young said.
What isn’t unusual is that BYU is playing an elite brand of offensive basketball right now, and the country is noticing.
Stats perform noted on X that BYU in the last three games — wins over Kansas, Arizona and Arizona State — became the first team this century to do the following:
- Score at least 90 points
- Shoot at least 50% from field
- Make at least 12 3-pointers
- Commit fewer than 12 turnovers
Something special is going on in Provo, at least on that end of the court.
“I don’t know if I would just limit it to the last couple of games. Obviously point totals would suggest that. But we have a really unselfish group,” Young said Wednesday night, deflecting praise. “Our guys play for each other, whether that is making the extra pass, whether that is sprinting the floor.
“Every time down, we try to get to the corner so we can space teams out. That’s really been something we have really, really gotten better at as the season has gone on,” he continued. “We are starting to see the fruits of that labor.”
“Every time down, we try to get to the corner so we can space teams out. That’s really been something we have really, really gotten better at as the season has gone on. We are starting to see the fruits of that labor.”
— BYU coach Kevin Young
Saunders said the Cougars have bought into the first-year coach’s system, and it is paying off.
“I feel like the way previous teams have guarded us, it felt like we had a lot more room today (vs. ASU),” Saunders said. “A lot of paint-to-great 3s, is what we call them. A lot of drive in and kick it out. A lot of open looks, and we will take that. We will take that any time we get that.”
Up next is a rematch with West Virginia (17-11, 8-9), which has won two of its last three and routed TCU 73-55 on Tuesday night in Morgantown. BYU downed the Mountaineers 73-69 on the road on Feb. 11, and will host coach Darian DeVries’ team Saturday at the Marriott Center (8 p.m. MST, ESPN2).
