Fousseyni Traore scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench Saturday night as No. 25 BYU exploded in the second half to rout visiting West Virginia 77-56 in a Big 12 Conference game in Provo, Utah.
Egor Demin added 15 points for the Cougars (21-8, 12-6 Big 12), which tied No. 9 Iowa State for fourth in the conference with two games left. BYU, which has won six straight games by an average of 14.5 points, also got 13 from Richie Saunders.
Javon Small scored 15 points for the Mountaineers (17-12, 8-10), who have alternated wins and losses over the last five games to remain squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. West Virginia made just 33.3 percent of its field goals, including 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from the 3-point line.
Nevertheless, it was still a close game at halftime before the Cougars exploded. They opened the second half with a 10-2 run, taking a 35-21 lead when Keba Keita dunked off Demin’s feed with 16:44 left. The margin reached 20 on Demin’s 3-pointer at the 9:52 mark and BYU never looked back.
The Cougars canned 20 of 33 shots in the second half to finish the game at 52.7 percent from the field. They also controlled the glass 43-32 and outscored the visitors in the paint by a whopping 46-22.
BYU entered the game as the first team this century to enjoy three straight games with at least 90 points, 50 percent field goal shooting, 12 3-pointers and 12 or fewer turnovers. A slow start doomed that streak, though not the Cougars’ eventual success.
The Mountaineers slowed the pace and defended well enough to own a 17-13 lead with 4:51 left when Small drilled a long 3-pointer from Toby Okani. West Virginia made only 25 percent from the floor in the half but committed just one turnover.
However, the Cougars finally got going and ended the half with a 12-2 run that gave them a 25-19 halftime lead. Saunders and Traore combined for the team’s final eight points in a 2:17 span.
–Field Level Media
