Cougars collect consecutive Big 12 wins with 80-52 victory over Cincinnati

PROVO — Everything was going BYU's way Saturday night in the Marriott Center, right down to the free chicken from Chick-fil-A provided to the fans when Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell missed on consecutive free throws with five minutes remaining.

Richie Saunders poured in 21 points with five rebounds, and the Cougars connected on 15 3-pointers to stump Cincinnati 80-52 in front of 17,483 fans at the Marriott Center.

Egor Demin added 15 points, five rebounds and seven assists for the Cougars (13-6, 4-4 Big 12), just his third scoring output in double figures since conference play began on New Year's Eve — and BYU's first two-game winning streak against Big 12 opponents.

In the words of legendary Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown: "It has happened before."

"I think a lot of people were thinking I was in bad shape lately," said Demin, who was shooting just 28% from 3-point range before Saturday. "But I'm feeling better and better, game to game. Today, I was just enjoying playing here."

Simas Lukosius had 14 points with four rebounds to lead Cincinnati (12-7, 2-6 Big 12), which gave up a dozen or more triples in back-to-back games since Tuesday's 81-71 loss to Texas Tech.

Saunders did his damage on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from the perimeter, which is his fifth consecutive game in double figures and third in that span with 20 or more points.

That helped pace a run where six players scored from the 3-point line 15 times, including 11 in the second half when freshman guard Elijah Crawford's triple hit the bottom of the net in the final second for the 28-point margin.

BYU coach Kevin Young said he apologized to Cincinnati's Wes Miller and his program for the shot, calling his program "classier than that." But the former NBA assistant coach attributed the turnaround to the defensive glass, which BYU won 27-15 with a 17-8 rebounding disparity after halftime.

"They had 10 O-boards in the first half, and only had three in the second," Young said. "That allowed us to get out and hold them to one shot. That's how you go 52-29 in the second half, by just rebounding."

But then there was the 3-point arc, which BYU found in a big way to raise the Cougars' average of 10.5 per game.

"I think the biggest thing was our defensive boards," said Saunders, echoing his first-year head coach. "They came out and just hit us. Holding them to three in the second half was big for us.

"When we can get stops on the other end, it really just fuels our offense. That was the moral of the story."

Kanon Catchings drained a 3-pointer with 7:39 left in the half to cap a 9-2 run that gave BYU a 21-14 advantage during the Bearcats' nearly three-minute scoring drought early.

But the Cougars were held scoreless from the field until Demin beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to lift BYU to a 28-23 halftime advantage.

Cincinnati shot just 32.3% from the field in the first half, including 3-of-14 from 3-point range. But the Bearcats did most of their damage on the glass, outrebounding BYU 20-17 and limiting the Cougars to just five offensive boards and 4 second-chance points.

BYU carried the momentum into a 11-3 run out of the locker room, including a pair of 3-pointers by Saunders to lead by as much as 38-26.

Trevin Knell stretched the start to 17-5 with a 3-pointer that capped a 7-0 run less than five minutes in as BYU connected on 6-of-7 field goals including 4-of-5 from the perimeter to open the half.

The Cougars led by as much as 22 points in the second half before pulling the main rotation, assisting on 18-of-28 made field goals as all but one player in the primary nine-man rotation found the bottom of the net, leading to a ridiculous 73% shooting clip in the second half.

That included Dawson Baker, who shot 5-of-7 from the field for 11 points with two assists for his highest scoring output in a BYU uniform since Dec. 20.

Cincinnati travels to Utah at 7 p.m. MST Tuesday, while BYU will stay home to host Baylor (7 p.m. MST, ESPN2) before a Saturday trip to UCF.

Related topics