PROVO, Utah — No. 20 BYU shot 69 percent from the field in the second half as it shook off a slow start and finished the regular season with an 85-71 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.
With the win over the Cowboys, the Cougars finished their inaugural Big 12 regular season campaign at 22-9 overall and 10-8 in league play. Saturday’s win also secures BYU the No. 5 seed in next week’s 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship.
The conference tournament will be held March 12-16 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri with live coverage on ESPN Networks. Live play-by-play of the Cougars in Kansas City will be available on BYURadio.org/BYU Radio app or KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM.
BYU will open tournament play on March 13 versus the winner of the No. 12 seed UCF and No. 13 seed Oklahoma State. The game will be broadcast live on either ESPN or ESPN2.
After a 37 percent performance from the field in the first half, BYU found its shot in the second with 13 assists on 18 made field goals, including eight 3-pointers.
The Cougars finished the game outshooting the Cowboys 51-45 percent from the floor, with a 12-of-31 night from beyond the arc. BYU’s 31 total made field goals came on 21 assists. The Cougars held Oklahoma State to 6-of-21 from downtown and just nine assists on 26 field goals.
Fousseyni Traore led BYU with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Senior Jaxson Robinson shot 7-of-12 from the floor for 17 points alongside five rebounds.
Spencer Johnson also made the most of Senior Night as he posted his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson also added five assists and two steals.
Aly Khalifa recorded nine points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and steal, while Dallin Hall orchestrated the BYU offense to the tune of six assists and five points.
First Half
Two quick 3-pointers from Oklahoma State and three early turnovers hampered BYU in the game’s opening minutes. Khalifa took the lid off the basket at the 16-minute mark with a 3-pointer of his own. BYU then evened the game at six as Noah Waterman collected his own rebound and banged a corner triple.
Robinson checked-in to the game six minutes in and wasted no time making his presence felt. The senior guard converted a steal from Trevin Knell into a lay-in then pushed in transition and scored off the glass for a 10-8 Cougar lead. Robinson continued to work in the paint and helped BYU move to an 18-12 advantage with consecutive 3-point plays.
The Cougars took a half-high nine-point lead at 26-17 with 4:46 to play. BYU built its lead with 3-pointers from Khalifa and Waterman along with a turnaround jumper from Knell in the key. Scores from Traore and Richie Saunders finished the half for BYU offensively but a 12-6 run from Oklahoma State sent both teams to the break with the Cougars leading 32-29.
The Cowboys shot 40 percent from the field for the half but just 20 percent from beyond the arc, with misses on each of their last eight attempts of the half. BYU shot 37 percent from the field and made 4-of-19 3-pointers in the opening period.
The Cougars and Cowboys fought a closely-contested match for control of the paint with Oklahoma State holding a 21-20 rebounding advantage at the half while BYU did so 18-16 in paint scoring.
Robinson led BYU at the break with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
Second Half
With Khalifa and Johnson at the controls, BYU quickly shed a stagnant first half with a 13-2 run to begin the second.
Johnson got BYU firing on all cylinders with a triple from the right wing followed by a driving lay-in two possessions later. Khalifa extended the Cougar lead to 13 as he dropped in his third 3-pointer of the night courtesy a behind-the-back pass from Johnson. BYU then extended its next possession with Khalifa cleaning the glass and dishing the ball outside to Johnson for another three.
A corner triple from Knell put BYU up 48-31 just over four minutes into the half. The Cougars had roared out of the locker room with five makes on their first six attempts from the field, including scores on each of their first five possessions. BYU’s defense, meanwhile, held Oklahoma State to just one field goal on its first seven attempts.
Midway through the half, BYU ballooned its lead to a game-high 25 at 62-37. Traore turned up the pressure on the Cowboys with three scores in the paint while Robinson added five points and Saunders three during the 14-6 Cougar swing.
Oklahoma State wasn’t going to go away easily. The Cowboys rode a 15-3 run to cut BYU’s lead to 67-57 with six minutes to play.
Traore and Johnson led the way for BYU as it closed the door on the visitors down the stretch.
Traore drained a floater in the key, then jarred the ball loose and sent it down floor for a Dallin Hall lay-in. Johnson then scored four-straight for the Cougars with two free throw makes and a driving lay-in. The senior shooting guard then closed the game with a transition dish to Saunders who punctuated the game with a final 3-pointer.