BYU fans (at least in the arena) got their first taste to see the Kevin Young’s new squad as BYU beat Division 2 Colorado Christian 93-49 in an exhibtion game Wednesday night in Provo.
Four BYU players scored in double figures, led by 19 points from freshman Kanon Catchings. Trevin Knell scored 17, Richie Saunders had 15, and Dawson Baker rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points. Freshman Egor Demin didn’t score in a 0-3 night from the field, but he orchestrated the BYU offense and dished out 11 assists. Freshman Elijah Crawford was another bright spot for BYU, as he had a stat line of 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 21 minutes of action. BYU rolled out a starting 5 of Keba Keita, Kanon Catchings, Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell, and Egor Demin.
BYU held out Dallin Hall and Fousseyni Traore for what Kevin Young described as “precautionary reasons”; I anticipate both to be available for BYU’s season opener next week, possibly by the second game if Kevin Young wants to be a little more cautious. Trey Stewart also missed the game, but I expect him to miss the start of the season as he works his way back from a knee injury.
BYU as a team shot 59% from the field and 50% from three; 36 of the 53 field goal attempts were from behind the arc. BYU assisted on 24 of their 31 field goal makes and had 14 turnovers compared to CCU’s 14. You can view the full box score and stat recap here.
BYU next opens the regular season Tuesday night versus Central Arkansas. The game will be at 7pm MT on ESPN+. KenPom projects BYU to win 88-61.
