KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clinging to an 89-88 lead with 49 seconds to play, Richie Saunders made the game-sealing plays for No. 17 BYU men’s basketball as he buried a 3-pointer and blocked a 3-point attempt in a 96-92 win for the Cougars over the No. 12 Cyclones in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship quarterfinal on Thursday afternoon at the T-Mobile Center.
Saunders led BYU with 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc and an 8-for-8 showing from the free throw line. The All-Big 12 First Team selection also added a career-high five assists.
The Cougars and Cyclones combined for a Big 12 Tournament-record 31 made 3-pointers in a game where BYU led by as many as 10 in the first half then trailed by nine in the second.
BYU vs Iowa State || FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/mN6y7S1lWg
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 13, 2025
Iowa State shot 56-percent from the field while BYU shot at a 52-percent clip. The Cougars buried 18 3-pointers on 36 attempts, narrowly outdoing the Cyclones’ 13-of-30. BYU’s 30 field goals came on 24 assists with 41 points from its deep bench.
Despite being outscored 40-20 in the paint and 15-4 in second-chance points, the Cougars won the battle for the glass 31-28 and edged Iowa State 10-9 in offensive rebounds.
Fousseyni Traore, Trevin Knell and Mihailo Boskovic followed Saunders to give BYU four double-figure scorers on Thursday. Traore went 5-of-6 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line for 15 points. Knell splashed home four 3-pointers on four attempts and totaled 15 points of his own. Boskovic came off the bench for 10 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Keba Keita went off for a near double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Dallin Hall complemented his seven points with seven assists. Trey Stewart pitched in six points and three of the Cougars’ eight steals.
Following the win over the No. 5 seed Cyclones, No. 4 seed BYU advances to a Big 12 semifinal showdown with the winner of No. 1 seed Houston and No. 16 seed Colorado on Friday at 6 p.m. CDT. Watch BYU in the Big 12 semifinal on ESPN or listen to live play-by-play on BYU Radio.
First Half
BYU and Iowa State battled through a back-and-forth opening half in which both teams shot blistering hot with the Cyclones holding a 53-49 edge at the break.
The Cougars knocked down five of their first eight looks from 3-point range to lead 25-15, 10 minutes in. Knell opened the scoring for BYU with a three from the left wing. Mawot Mag put BYU up 8-5 with a corner triple then added a second strike from deep for an 11-7 Cougar lead. Egor Demin, Saunders and Dawson Baker drained another flurry of 3-pointers and gave BYU its 25-15 advantage at the 11:42 mark of the half.
BYU’s scoring run came as its defense held Iowa State scoreless over a 2:20 stretch but the Cyclones awakened with a 31-12 run over the next eight minutes of the half.
Iowa State cut the BYU lead to 25-24 with a 9-0 run over three minutes. The Cougars were unable to stem the tide until Knell lobbed inside for Keita who finished at the rim. BYU’s 27-24 lead quickly turned into a tie game until Knell responded with his second triple to put the Cougars back in front.
Saunders swished a floater to keep BYU ahead 32-29 but the lead proved short-lived with Iowa State storming ahead with a 9-0 run over 47 seconds. Knell cut into the Cyclone lead with a personal 5-0 run on two free throw makes and a third 3-pointer.
BYU trailed 49-39 with three minutes before the break when it closed the half on a 10-4 run.
Boskovic started the run with a corner 3-pointer. Defense then turned to offense for the Cougars as Stewart plucked the ball free from Iowa State and pushed it ahead to Traore for the fastbreak slam. Stewart was then on the receiving end of a steal-turned-score as Demin picked off a Cyclone pass and Stewart finished on the other end with a transition triple. Two Traore free throws finished BYU’s first-half scoring and sent it to the break down 53-49.
The Cougars kept pace with a 61-percent-shooting Iowa State team as they shot 50-percent from the field for themselves. BYU went 10-of-21 from distance while the Cyclones knocked down 10 of 17. Knell and Traore led the Cougars at the half with 11 points a-piece.
Second Half
Each time the Cougars clawed back within six, Iowa State answered to maintain an eight-point lead three times over the first four minutes of the half and ultimately led by nine six minutes in.
Just as he had the first half, Knell drained BYU’s first shot of the half with a triple that cut the Cyclone lead to 57-52. Saunders and Keita added two more buckets to stay within six at 62-56. Iowa State continued to respond with BYU battling back as the Cougars clipped a 64-56 deficit to six with Traore putting back an errant Saunders three. Hall drained a triple to put BYU within five at 66-61 until two buckets from the Cyclones pushed their lead to nine.
Beginning at the 13:01 mark, BYU climbed back in front with a 14-2 run.
Stewart and Hall jump-started the Cougar offense with threes on consecutive possessions before Traore cut the deficit to three at 72-69 with a floater. BYU then squared the game at 72 as Hall drove to the right elbow then kicked crosscourt to Boskovic who buried the corner three.
Boskovic then put BYU in front with a steal and triple on the other end. A Saunders 3-pointer put the Cougars in front 78-78 with 8:15 to play. The Cougars went in the paint to go ahead 80-75 as Knell lobbed inside for Keita who finished with the slam.
Iowa State came back to tied the game at 80 until another Keita score at the rim and four free throw makes from Saunders pushed BYU ahead 87-82. The Cyclones again answered, cutting the Cougar lead to 89-88 with 1:12 to go.
Clinging to a one-point lead with 49 seconds to play, Hall found Saunders open on the left wing for the game-sealing 3-pointer. Saunders then put a stop to Iowa State’s ensuing possession with a blocked 3-point attempt. BYU iced the game for a 96-92 win with three free throws from Hall and Saunders in the closing seconds.