Analysis: No. 9 BYU ‘leaves no doubt’ with 104-76 pounding of Arizona State as ‘Big 3′ shines again

After a ho-hum 10-point win at Kansas State last Saturday and a couple of practices that BYU coach Kevin Young “didn’t love,” the No. 9 Cougars went into Wednesday’s Big 12 home opener looking to prove a point, and perhaps impress some voters that they deserve a higher ranking in the national polls.

Consider it mission accomplished. And then some.

BYU’s “Big 3” of Richie Saunders, AJ Dybantsa and Rob Wright outscored the Sun Devils themselves and the Cougars made 14 of 31 3-point attempts in a 104-76 rout of Arizona State in front of 18,009 at the Marriott Center. Saunders scored a career-high 31 points, Wright added a career-high 27 and Dybantsa netted 23 to go with five assists and seven rebounds as the Cougars surpassed the 100-point plateau for the first time against a Big 12 opponent.

“I just challenged the group to kind of start the game and leave no doubt who was the more focused team,” Young said. “I thought (Saunders) kind of set the stage there. I thought his scoring was the product of our spacing and our unselfishness and obviously his individual greatness.”

Saunders passed his previous career-high of 30, which came against the Sun Devils in last year’s Big 12 opener, while also adding three assists, two steals and eight rebounds before fouling out. In his last three games against ASU, Saunders has gone 18 of 30 from 3-point range.

The most spectacular came in garbage time Wednesday, but it almost brought the house down. Wright saved a ball from going out of bounds with a behind-the-back pass to a wide open Saunders, and he swished the 3-pointer as the crowd rose in unison while sensing it was about to see something memorable happen.

“Those are the best, because you can, literally, you can feel the whole place, just (hold its collective breath),” Saunders said. “If you make it, it is amazing. And then if you miss something, everybody just goes, ‘Oh,’ and you get to hear that, because it’s 20,000 people doing that.”

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Saunders was 10 of 13 from the field, 6 of 8 from deep, and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line. Him fouling out was a testament to his hustle, and how he never lets up, never gives an inch.

“I was just super happy to play, and it is fun when you win,” Saunders said, deflecting praise.

About 90 seconds after the Wright-Saunders play, Dybantsa got into the act with another highlight reel dunk for his final points, a windmill that completed his 7 of 13 shooting night. Saunders, Wright and Dybantsa combined to shoot at incredible 26 of 41 from the field.

Perhaps the most impressed person in the building was Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, who brought a shorthanded team to Provo and lost for the third straight time to the Cougars as a Big 12 team.

“It is a credit to BYU and where and how they have grown this program to where they are. I have been out West for a number of years, and to see the product they have put on the floor, you guys should be very proud to it,” said Hurley, whose team dropped to 0-2 in Big 12 play, 9-6 overall. “They not only have talent, but they play really hard and they seem to play together the right way.”

Hurley mistakenly believed the Big 3 shot 26 of 31 from the floor, which was understandable because of the Cougars’ overall offensive efficiency — they shot 57.4% — but regardless of that the veteran coach who is the brother of the coach of the only team to beat BYU this season — UConn’s Danny Hurley — truly marveled over the performance.

“Any time you get three guys that outscore our whole team, that’s a problem for us,” Bobby Hurley said. “They shot … a staggering percentage for three players to shoot that (the whole) game.

Then the coach delivered the line of the night, alluding to the fact that the Devils didn’t miss consecutive free throws and allow the crowd to cash in.

“The only thing that we can hang our hat on, leaving here tonight, is that I think we did stop Chick-fil-A (from handing out free sandwiches),” Hurley said. “If I am not mistaken, we were able to get that done tonight.”

Anthony “Pig” Johnson led ASU with 24 points, while 7-foot-1 center Massamba Diop enjoyed having BYU big man Keba Keita on the bench in street clothes after tweaking his ankle in practice Tuesday and added 22, 18 in the second half.

Young said Keita probably could have played and should be available Saturday night against rival Utah, which fell 85-73 at Colorado on Wednesday night.

Former G League center Abdullah “Bido” Ahmed started in his place and was a factor defensively, posting five rebounds, three points, five blocks and a steal in 17 minutes before cramping up and leaving the game for good with 12:32 remaining. The Cougars combined for 10 blocks.

“Look, that is what Bido does,” Young said. “Now all of a sudden we have a lot of depth at the five spot. I think that reared its head tonight. He had five blocks in 17 minutes, then started cramping up. That’s why we took him out.”

Young also liked the way Mihailo Boskovic (eight rebounds, two blocks) and Khadim Mboup filled in for the missing Keita.

As for the Big 3 doing their thing, the coach said there were times when he just sat back and watched. Dybantsa did have five turnovers, giving him 12 in the last two games, but he also distributed the ball well and got almost anything he wanted at the rim.

“I learned that in the NBA,” Young said. “When guys are going good, just get (them) space and get them the ball and shut up.”

The win extended BYU’s winning streak to 11 games and its home winning streak to 11 games, dating back to last season.

“I mean, we are just buying-in well, and we want to keep that in mind as we go forward,” Wright said.

Said Saunders: “Basketball is a game of runs, and it is fun to get on those runs. We have an opportunity to really find joy for each other. And when that happens, when everybody is happy for each other, it is so fun, so fun.”

Still, there were a couple of issues for Young to nitpick about as the Cougars continue what is supposed to be their easiest Big 12 stretch of the season. The schedule ramps up next Wednesday when TCU visits the Marriott Center, followed by a visit to nationally ranked Texas Tech.

For instance, the Cougars were a bit lackadaisical with the ball in the first half, committing nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes after posting 19 giveaways last Saturday in the 83-73 win at Kansas State.

They made up for it with some outstanding shooting, going 7 of 17 from deep, and decent defense on the cold-shooting Sun Devils. The Big 3 combined for 39 points in the first half and the Cougars took a 45-30 lead into halftime.

Wright led the way with 14 in the first half, followed by Saunders with 13 and Dybantsa with 12. Dybantsa scored 10 points in the first five minutes, then had just one bucket the final 15 minutes, 37 seconds of the half. Saunders has now made multiple 3-pointers in his last six games, a career-best.

Dybantsa opened the second half with a 3-point play, then Saunders scored 10 straight BYU points, and the rout was on.

“We broke some kind of record tonight for missing mid-range jump shots,” Hurley said, after his team shot 27% in the first half and 50% in the second half, taking advantage of the absence of Ahmed inside. “They are certainly a different team when they have Keita in there.”

For the Big 3, the 81 points represents a season-high.

“Although I talked about the identity sort of being forged, I think that part of our identity is still a growth process in terms of last year that was sort of all we were (an attack the rim or get 3-pointers team),” Young said. “Now it is starting to become who this team is as well.”