BYU 's strong second half propels Cougars to 80-52 win over Cincinnati

BYU shot 73 percent from the field in the second half en route to outscoring the Bearcats by 23 for its second straight Big 12 win.

Author Will Olsen
BYU 's strong second half propels Cougars to 80-52 win over CincinnatiBYU 's strong second half propels Cougars to 80-52 win over Cincinnati
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PROVO, Utah – Behind its best shooting half of the season, BYU outscored Cincinnati by 23 in the second half en route to 80-52 victory over the Bearcats on Saturday evening at the Marriott Center. 

“We have a lot of good shooters," Head Coach Kevin Young said. "That’s two games in a row that we’ve shown we are very capable of getting a lot of threes. We’re playing with a little bit more halfcourt movement, making guys chase us a little bit more which has helped get guys off us and gets us a little bit more space to get shots off."

BYU shot 73.1% from 3-point range and 73.9% from the field in the second half a they outscored the Bearcats 52-29 marking fourth time this season they have scored 50-plus in hte second half.. After leading by five at halftime, Richie Saunders took over the game scoring 14 of his 21 in the first 10 minutes of the second half with Egor Demin scoring 10 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes of regulation. 

Demin had a team-high seven assists as BYU assisted on 18 of its 28 made field goals. The second unit scored 29 points with Dawson Baker reaching double figurs for the first time in league play with 11 while Kanon Catchings added nine. 

 

First Half
Cincinnati came into the game fast-paced and struck first. Trevin Knell immediately responded for the Cougars with a 3-pointer before feeding Keba Ketita for a layup. 

After a quick 5-5 start, both teams tightened up their defense, with neither team able to find the basket often. With 11 minutes left in the half, the Bearcats clung to a one-point lead at 10-9.

Saunders kickstarted the Cougar offense as the junior knocked down an off balance three with just a second left on the shot clock. BYU allowed a basket but Dawson Baker got into the lane and knocked down a driving floater. Fousseyni Traore got on the score sheeet with a nice post move to put the Cougars up 16-12 with 10:41 remaining in the first half.

Catchings gave them their largest lead of the night with a contested corner 3-pointer, putting them up by seven. BYU didn’t capitalize on this momentum, as the Bearcats made their move, holding the Cougars scoreless for five minutes and tying the game at 23-all.

Demin made his presence felt to end the half. He knocked down two free throws and then a 3-pointer with under five seconds left on the clock to give BYU a 28-23 lead at halftime. 

Despite shooting under 50 percent in the first half for the third straight game, the Cougar defense came to play as they held the Bearcats to just 23 points, which is tied for the second-lowest total in a half this season. 

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Second Half
Demin kept rolling to start the second as he got another three to fall connecting behind the arc on back-to-back possessions. Despite letting up a three on the other end Saunders hit another three to push the lead to eight, 34-26.

After two defensive stops and a Mawot Mag free throw on the previous possession, Saunders found the bottom of the net again from outside the arc. This pushed the lead to 38-26 and the run to 7-0 which forced Cincinnati to take a timeout.

Despite the Bearcats ending the 7-0 run the Cougars kept rolling as Demin lobbed up an alley-oop and Keita slammed it down. He kept dishing and found Mag on the ensuing possession to give them the 42-28 lead. BYU wasn’t done there as Saunders found Knell for a corner three and pushed the lead to 17.

Cincinnati began its response by going on a 7-2 run behind good play on both ends. The Cougars couldn’t be held down for long as Saunders hit yet another three to bring the lead back up to 15 with 11:21 left in the game. Saunders continued to dominate as he knocked down a fourth three in the half shooting 4-of-4 from behind the arc and scoring 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

BYU continued its hot shooting throughout the final 10 minutes of regulations pouring in 30 more points and winning the game 80-52.

The Cougars shot 73.9% from the field, which is the highest in a half this season for BYU, and marked the first time since Nov. 23, 2024 against NC State that they shot over 70.0 percent in a half.

Up Next
The Cougars concluded their two-game home stand on Tuesday, Jan. 28, when they host Baylor. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.