SAN DIEGO, Calif. — BYU got back in the win column with a 72-61 win over NC State on Thursday afternoon at the Rady Children’s Invitational at LionTree Arena in San Diego, Calif.
BYU led from start-to-finish as the Cougars made five of their first six shots including four 3-pointers to put the Wolfpack in an early hole. Friday marked the fifth time this season they shot over 50 percent from the field.
Richie Saunders scored a team-high 13 points going 4-of-7 from the field, 3-of-3 from three and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe to go along with three rebounds. Fousseyni Traore also reached double figures, finishing with 10 points and five rebounds.
Egor Demin had a career-high 11 rebounds, four of those coming on the offensive glass, to go along with eight points, four assists and a block.
They knocked down 10 3-pointers for the sixth time this season, marking the first time this season that NC State has allowed more than eight 3-pointers.
First Half
The Cougars jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the opening four minutes of the contest after connecting on five of their first six shots, four of those coming from beyond the arc. Dallin Hall opened the scoring for the Cougars with a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game. Keba Keita followed that with a layup with Saunders connecting on a triple on the next trip down the floor. A Keita offensive rebound resulted in Hall’s second 3-pointer in as many attempts. Saunders ended the 9-0 run with his second 3-pointer in the opening minutes.
Demin got on the scoresheet with a left handed dunk in traffic to extend the lead to double figures for the first time, 16-6. Another offensive rebound turned into points for the Cougars at 12:43 with Trevin Knell knocking down BYU’s fifth 3-pointer of the opening half.
Four turnovers over a four-minute stretch resulted in NC State closing the gap to five, 19-14, before Trevin Knell had a steal and score to end a 6-0 run for the visitors. Dawson Baker found a wide open Traore for a dunk. Demin made both of his free throws to extend the Cougars lead to a game-high 11, 25-14.
Following a jumper from NC State’s Michael O’Connell, BYU went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 15, 33-18, with 3:39 on the clock. Knell lobbed the ball up to Keita for an alley-oop with Baker scoring back-to-back layups to force a Wolfpack timeout.
Demin found Baker in the corner on a cross court pass for his first 3-pointer of the game to restore BYU’s double-digit lead, 36-24. Dallin Hall pushed the lead to 13, 38-25, on the next possession after getting his defender in the air with a pump fake for an open look.
The Cougars shot over 50 percent in the first half for a fifth time this season going 14-of-26 from the field, 6-of-10 from three and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Second Half
After going scoreless in the opening two possessions, Demin putback his own miss for BYU’s first basket of the second half. Kanon Catchings opened his scoring account with a 3-pointer on an extra pass from Hall. The freshman continued to make his presence known with a steal resulting in a layup for Demin. Another NC State turnover turned into points for BYU as Catchings connected on a stepback 3-pointer to make it a 20-point game, 52-32, at 15:27.
Traore would push the Cougars lead to a game-high 24 points, 65-41, at 8:41 with an old-fashioned 3-point play following his second offensive rebound of the game. The Cougars missed six straight shots and were scoreless for more than three minutes as NC State cut the lead to 15, 65-50, before a free throw from Keita.
Traore would make the Cougars only basket over the final eight minutes as the Cougars picked up their second straight win over NC State.
BYU returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 3, when the Cougars take on Providence as part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle in Providence, R.I. Tip is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.