PROVO, Utah - BYU begins its two-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 8, when the Cougars take on Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game can be found on ESPN2 with Chuckie Kempf and King McClure on the call.
MAKING THE RETURN TRIP
BYU outscored Cincinnati 52-29 in the second half en route to a 80-52 victory in their first meeting of the season on Jan. 25, 2025 at the Marriott Center in Provo. The Cougars shots 57.1 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from three and 81.9 percent from the free throw line in their first win over the Bearcats in Provo.
BYU vs Cincinnati || FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/gztpn3Ayny
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 26, 2025
Richie Saunders knocked down five of BYU's 15 3-pointers, as the junior finished with a game-high 21 points, with Egor Demin chipping in 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Dawson Baker added 11 points off the bench.
THE HOME STRETCH
Saturday will be the third of four true road games that BYU will play in the Eastern Time Zone this season marking the first time since 1962-63 that the Cougars have played a quartet of of true road games in the Eastern Time Zone.
BYU is 11-14 in games played in the Eastern Time Zone since 2010-11 including wins in four of their last five contests including a 81-75 victory over UCF last Saturday.
ROAD WARRIORS
A win on Saturday would give BYU its first three-game road win streak since February 2021 when they beat former WCC foes Portland, Pacific and Loyola Marymount. The Cougars are 5-9 all-time on the road in Big 12 play.
RICO SUAVE
Richie Saunders is scoring a team- and career-best 15.1 points per game as the junior has scored in double figures in seven straight games follwing his 11-point performance against No. 20 Arizona. As of Thursday, Saunders is one of three players in NCAA Division I men's basketball to have played in 20 or more games and made 50 or more 3-pointers, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from three and 70.0 percent from the free throw line.
"Richie Saunders has been that guy that's kinda been the heartbeat of this group"@SeanFarnham assesses Richie Saunders' game this season snd why he's been so crucial to the team pic.twitter.com/9siVaELWgq
— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) February 4, 2025
PASS, SHOOT, CELEBRATE
In their last meeting against Cincinnati, BYU went 15-of-24 from 3-point range, making the Cougars one of 12 schools this season to shoot 60.0 percent or better from behind the arc with at least 15 makes against NCAA Division I competition. Villanova is the only school in the nation to have done it twice this season.
TRICKY TREVIN
In two career games against Cincinnati, Trevin Knell is averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from 3-point range. Last season, in both team's first-ever Big 12 game, Knell went 9-of-14 from behind the arc in a loss, tying the Marriott Center record and setting a career-high with 27 points.
The senior is 11 points away from becoming the 54th player in program history to score 1,000 points. He is also four 3-pointers away from passing Mark Bigelow (1998-99, 01-04) and Chase Fischer (2014-16) to move into fifth on the all-time list.
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
Twenty-two games into the season, BYU ranks first in the Big 12 and 11th in the nation in effecitive field goal percentage (.570). The Cougars also lead the league in 3-point field goals made per game (10.6).
UP NEXT
BYU concludes its road trip on Tuesday, Feb. 11, when the Cougars face West Virginia in Morgantown for a second consecutive season. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
