Knell, Saunders spark No. 25 BYU to 91-81 win over Arizona State

BYU went 17-of-34 from behind the arc in the win over Sun Devils, tied for the fourth-most 3-pointers in a game in program history.

Author Halle Taylor
Knell, Saunders spark No. 25 BYU to 91-81 win over Arizona StateKnell, Saunders spark No. 25 BYU to 91-81 win over Arizona State
Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 25 BYU extended its win streak to five games with a 91-81 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday evening at Desert Financial Arena. 

"Hard fought game. We knew it would be against a team that was super undermanned," head coach Kevin Young said. "Our guys were able to make plays down the stretch even with shooting poorly from the free throw line. I thought our 3-point shooting was outstanding tonight. 21 assists is the way we like to play."

The Cougars knocked down a season-high 17 3-pointers, tied for the fourth-most in a game in program history. After a back-and-forth opening two minutes, Saunders knocked down 3-pointers in consecutive possesions to push the visitors lead to seven as the Cougars never looked back. They finished the game shooting 54.8 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three and 40.0 percent from the free throw line. 

Saunders tied a career-high with six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 26 points. Trevin Knell went 5-of-6 from 3-point range as the senior had 17 points in the win. Fousseyni Traore and Dallin Hall combined for 23 of BYU's 31 bench points while Egor Demin had a game-high 10 assists. 

The Cougars five-game conference win streak in their longest in five years. 

First Half
The Cougars got on the board first with a 3-pointer from Knell, courtesy of Demin. The Sun Devils answered with five-straight points in under 30 seconds to take their first and only lead of the game. BYU responded with an 11-2 run, highlighted by another Knell three and a pair of 3-pointers from Saunders. With 15:18 remaining, the Cougars were 5-for-5 from beyond the arc, leading 17-9.

Traore scored two layups in 26 seconds to preserve the Cougar lead before the Sun Devils went on a 6-0 run to cut BYU's lead to four, 21-17. 

Knell and Saunders kept the momentum going from beyond the arc. With 6:54 remaining, Denim stole the ball and passed it to Knell, who hit his fourth three-pointer of the night to give BYU a 31-24 lead. Following Knell, in less than two minutes, Saunders knocked down two jumpers, matching Knell’s 12 points.

Later in the half, BYU held Arizona State without a basket for more than six minutes as they led 47-37 at halftime.

BYU held ASU on the defensive end, preventing them from making field goals from 9:51 to 3:06. The half concluded with BYU leading, 46-37.

Second Half
Demin opened the half with an off-the-glass jumper from inside the paint. Keba Keita and Mawot Mag then powered a 7-0 BYU run, extending its lead to 58-42 with 16:16 on the clock.

The teams traded baskets until Saunders hit a jumper, then stole the ball on ASU’s next possession and converted it into a fast-break layup.

Knell drained another 3-pointer off an assist from Hall with 10:30 remaining. After struggling to score from the field for the next two and a half minutes, Dawson Baker finally ended the drought with a triple from the top of the key.

Hall put the Cougars in the 80-point threshold with another 3-ball. Just 45 seconds later, Saunders claimed his sixth 3-pointer of the game, extending BYU’s lead to a commanding 84-71.

Up Next
BYU travels back home for a matchup against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday at 8 p.m. MST. Watch on ESPN2 or listen to live play-by-play with Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant on BYU Radio.