Baker drops career-best 6 3-pointers as BYU routs Queens

PROVO — Weather forecasts called for showers Wednesday evening.

At least inside the Marriott Center.

Dawson Baker tallied 22 points with a career-best six 3-pointers, and Trevin Knell scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half as the Cougars rolled to a 99-55 win over Queens University.

Egor Demin added 14 points and five assists for the Cougars (3-0), who shot 15-of-35 from 3-point range.

But whatever the role for Baker, who played in just four games last year before shutting down the season with a foot injury, he's ready for it. And on Wednesday night, he was ready.

"I'm just worried about winning," said Baker, who also had two assists and a steal in 18 minutes. "I'm not worried about what my role will be. Some nights it's going to be someone's night, some night's someone else.

"I've just got to be ready and stay ready for my night."

At this point, Knell leaned over towards the microphone and chirped: "Which was tonight."

It was for Knell, too.

The graduate senior from Woods Cross connected on all five of his field goal attempts in the first half, including four 3-pointers, and went 6-of-8 overall as BYU shot 59% from the field and 52.4% from deep.

When the action didn't flow through the two standout shooters, or Demin, who shot 6-of-9 from the field with a pair of 3s and three rebounds, it went through the Cougars' post players of Fousseyni Traore and Keba Keita, who finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and three assists — his third consecutive game with double-digit rebounds.

"I'm definitely trying to get all the rebounds out there," said Keita, a transfer from Utah who prepped at Wasatch Academy (like Traore). "This is the first team I've been on that shoots a lot of 3s, so I think that's also a big mindset for me to get after every rebound."

"He's greedy," added Knell, with a laugh.

Former Lone Peak standout Jaxon Pollard scored 9 points to lead Queens (2-2).

But this one got away early from the visiting Royals, who are in their third year transition to NCAA Division I.

Knell hit his second 3-pointer of the night with 8:07 left in the first half as the Cougars opened up a 35-5 lead, and never looked back.

Less than 24 hours after Queens lost 96-65 to Utah, the Royals missed 17 of its first 19 shots.

Maban Jabriel drained three 3-pointers en route to 9 points as the Royals hit seven of their nine made field goals from the perimeter in the first half.

Knell had 14 points, Demin added 9 points and three assists, and Keba Keita had 5 points, six rebounds and a block to cruise to a 51-26 halftime lead.

Baker, who scored just 5 points before halftime, finished the night and parked the bus.

The only downside, Young noted, is what he called a "lull" in the second half. Whether it was the defense, the shooting or just simply the energy, Young couldn't quite put his finger on it.

But he called a timeout, and challenged his players — and they responded, he said.

"There was a lot to like," Young said. "But I think that response is what we'll take from this game, more than anything."

Much of that response started with Baker.

The former UC Irvine transfer scored the most points since he dropped 33 points for the Anteaters against UC San Diego prior to transferring to BYU, connecting on 8-of-10 field goals including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars led by as much as 47 points with just over three minutes remaining.

BYU returns to the Marriott Center to host Idaho. Tipoff against the Vandals is scheduled for 1 p.m. MST on ESPN+.

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