No. 23 BYU hosts Utah on Senior Night

The Cougars look to extend their win streak to eight games when the Utes make the trip to the Marriott Center for the first time in two seasons.

Author Tyson Jex
No. 23 BYU hosts Utah on Senior NightNo. 23 BYU hosts Utah on Senior Night

PROVO, Utah - No. 23 BYU concludes the regular season on Saturday, March 8, against a familiar foe when Utah makes the trek down Interstate 15 to Provo. Tip is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT at the Marriott Center. 

WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Mark Neely and Scott Wiliams on the call.

BROTHERLY LOVE
Saturday will be the 266th all-time meeting between the two schools and Utah's first trip to the Marriott Center as a conference foe since Feb. 12, 2011. The Cougars lead the all-time series 134-131 including a 28-18 record at the Marriott Center. 

The Cougars dropped their second straight in the series to Utes with a 73-72 overtime loss on Jan. 18 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. Richie Saunders and Fousseyni Traore each scored 16 points but were unable to control Utah's Ezra Ausar as he scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half.  

 

 

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STAYING YOUNG FOREVER
Kevin Young was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award earlier this week, a yearly honor given to the top first-time NCAA Division I menís basketball head coach. The former associate head coach for the Phoenix Sunsí 22 wins this season are tied for the second-most by a first-year head coach in program history with Stan Watts, who went 22-12 in his first season in Provo. A win on Saturday over Utah would tie him with Roger Reid for the most home wins (15) for a first-year head coach. 

With the win over No. 10 Iowa State, Young and the Cougars picked up their third Top 25 of the season which are tied for the most by a first-year head coach in program history with Stan Watts, who was a perfect 3-0 against ranked opponents in 1949-50. 

BACK IN THE HOMELAND
BYU concludes the regular season at home for the fifth consecutive season when they host the Utes on Saturday evening. The Cougars are 14-2 this season inside the friendly confines of the Marriott Center including a 7-2 record in league play. 

The Cougars are 14-4 at home since joining the Big 12 including ranked wins over Baylor, Iowa State and Kansas. 

 

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THE MAN, THE MYTH, HEADBAND RICHIE
BYU's leading scorer, Richie Saunders, enters Saturday's rivalry game 20 points away from becoming the 55th player in program history with 1,000 points. The junior has scored 466 points this season, 138 more than he scored in 34 games as a sophomore in 2023-24. 

If the season ended today, Saunders would become the fifth player in program history to shoot 50/40/80 as he is shooting 51.4 percent from the field, 43.9 percent from three and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.

Entering the final game of Big 12 play, Saunders has scored in double figures 16 times including eight games with 20-plus. He ranks second in the league in scoring as the Riverton native is scoring 18.1 points per game, the second-highest scoring average in conference play. He is also shooting a league-high 45.5 percent from 3-point range. 

LEADER OF THE PACK
With Saturday's game already announced as a sell-out, BYU will become the first school other than Kansas to lead the Big 12 in attendance since 1985-86. The Cougars are also on pace to average more than 17,000 fans per game since Jimmer Fredetteís senior season (2010-11) when they averaged 18,714 fans.