Their ability to close out a lopsided game left a little to be desired, but all in all the BYU Cougars showed on Friday in a convincing 72-61 win over North Carolina State that the talent, depth and unselfishness is there to beat some good college basketball teams this season.
Bouncing back well after Thursday’s overtime loss to No. 23 Ole Miss in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego, BYU dominated the ACC team that played in the Big Dance’s Final Four last year from the opening tip until about eight minutes remained.
“It was a fun win after what happened last night,” senior Fousseyni Traore told the BYU Sports Radio Network. “… The key was playing tough, playing like a man. I feel like now we know a little bit about ourselves.”
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The Cougars (6-1) led 65-41 with 8:42 remaining after Traore made a 3-point play, then made only one more field goal the rest of the way as they got sloppy with the ball and suddenly went cold from beyond the arc.
It hardly mattered, though, as North Carolina State (5-2) shot a season-low 37% from the field and could never get on track offensively against a combination of BYU defenses.
“I am just proud of them. The guys were locked in. I loved their attention to detail on a game plan with such a quick turnaround,” BYU coach Kevin Young said.
“But it is definitely all about the players. I think this was as beneficial for me just to learn about our team and learn about what I need to do better as a coach and put our guys in a better position to succeed. We will take a lot of things from this, for sure. Glad we came.”
BYU was clearly the superior team against a Wolfpack crew that fell 71-61 to No. 13 Purdue on Thursday, and it would have been intriguing to see how the Cougars dealt with the Boilermakers.
Settling for an 11-point win when it could have been in the 20s was mildly disappointing, and could matter in March when NCAA tournament bids are handed out.
But so much for style points — even though they do matter, even in late November. The Cougars needed to show they could beat a good team on their schedule after going 5-0 against an array of cupcakes before this two-day tournament.
They also showed some nice resiliency after an emotional letdown was expected due to the way they blew a shot at knocking off a nationally ranked, undefeated team on Thursday.
“Glad to see our guys bounce back,” Young said. “I thought our effort across the board on a lot of levels was really good.”
Another huge key to the win was unselfishness. The Cougars assisted on 17 of 25 field goals, moving the ball around well to find the open man.
Nine Cougars scored, led by Richie Saunders with 13 and Traore with 10. Freshman Egor Demin again stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can make baskets,” Young said. “When we’re sharing the ball, we are really hard to stop.”
Jayden Taylor and Michael O’Connell had 16 points apiece for NC State to lead all scorers. However, the Wolfpack was out-rebounded 45-32 and gave up 15 offensive rebounds that the Cougars turned into 12 second-chance points.
“Demin affects the game so many ways. I think you forget, because he plays as a guard, you forget how long he is,” Young said. “Even some of the blocks he has had, not just in this game, but the whole year, is a product of his length.”
BYU made its first four 3-point attempts — Saunders and Dallin Hall hit two apiece — and jumped out to a quick 14-5 lead, serving notice that it had shrugged off Thursday’s overtime loss to Ole Miss.
The Cougars maintained a lead of five points or more throughout the first half, and led by 15, 33-18, with less than four minutes remaining until halftime.
North Carolina State started to figure out BYU’s defense and made a little surge at the end of the first half, with Stanford transfer O’Connell heating up for 10 first-half points.
BYU struggled to take care of the ball in the first half, after posting 17 turnovers less than 24 hours previously. Only BYU’s nine first-half giveaways kept the Cougars from having a sizable halftime lead.
As it were, BYU was up 38-27 and in firm control, as seven Cougars scored in the first half, led by Hall with eight.
Offensive highlights in the first half included Demin’s driving left-handed dunk over Ben Middlebrooks, a lob to Keba Keita for an easy dunk and Demin’s cross-court pass to Dawson Baker for an open 3-pointer.
Baker had nine points off the bench as BYU’s reserves outscored NC State’s 29-14.
BYU finished with 10 3-pointers, and has made 10 triples or more in five straight games.
North Carolina State came in averaging 25 fast break points per game, tops in the nation, but had zero in the first half and finished with just five.
“Obviously it feels a lot better getting the split (on the trip),” Young said. “Started with a tough game that we should have got against Ole Miss. … We really enjoy being on the road. It kind of bonds you together when you travel. What a great event here in a beautiful city.”
Up next for BYU is a cross-country trip to Rhode Island, where the Cougars will meet Providence College (5-3) on Tuesday.
