No. 17 BYU defeats VCU 80-71 in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Cougars advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.

Author Halle Taylor
No. 17 BYU defeats VCU 80-71 in first round of NCAA TournamentNo. 17 BYU defeats VCU 80-71 in first round of NCAA Tournament
Box Score

DENVER, Colo. – Highlighted by 38 points in the paint, No. 17 BYU defeated 11th-seeded VCU 80-71 in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon at Ball Arena.

"Yeah, obviously just thrilled to get the win. This time of year, you hear it all the time, you want to survive and advance," head coach Kevin Young said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game, super well-coached team. I think they do a great job as a coaching staff over there. They made it tough on us. Proud of our guys. We felt like we wanted to key in on rebounding, not putting them on the line, and taking care of the ball. Those were the three keys for us coming into the game. We won those three areas. Felt like that was a huge part of the win."

Despite a back-and-forth first half where the Cougars trailed by as many as seven points, Egor Demin connected on three 3-pointers in the half to give BYU a 39-28 lead after the opening 20 minutes. BYU owned the paint, racking up 38 points, including a combined 22 from Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore. The duo also combined for eight of BYU’s 14 offensive rebounds. 

The Cougars won their 30th straight game when shooting 50.0 percent or better from the field, going 27-of-54. They also went 7-of-20 from three and 19-of-28 from the free throw line. They also had an advantage on the glass, 40-31. 

First Half
The Cougars saw themselves down 5-0 in the early moments before Richie Saunders opened the scoring for the Cougars with a jumper. A Keita block on the defensive end led to a driving layup from Trevin Knell to cut the deficit to one.

With 14:52 remaining in the first half, Demin knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give BYU its first lead, 14-10. The Rams responded with a 9-3 run to retake the lead, before Dawson Baker connected on his first triple of the game off a pass from Saunders. 

Baker put BYU ahead 20-19. After both teams traded baskets, Demin swished his third three of the afternoon to keep the Cougars in front, 27-24, with under five minutes remaining.

The Cougars would finish the half strong, holding the Rams without a basket for nearly six minutes while Traore scored five straight points for the Cougars. Knell finished the scoring for the Cougars with a corner 3-pointer to put BYU up 39-28 after 20 minutes. 

Second Half
The Rams opened the half with a 3-pointer, but Saunders responded on the next possession with one of his own. The junior would follow that up with an old-fashioned 3-point play on a driving layup. 

Courtesy of an assist from Demin, Knell connected on another triple to put the Cougars up 14, 48-34. Keita would push the lead to a game-high 20 a few minutes later with a putback. 

After nearly two scoreless minutes from both teams, VCU hit a three, cutting the lead to 14. Saunders and Hall powered a 4-0 run, but the Rams answered with two-straight 3-pointers to trim the lead to 10.

The Rams would not get closer than that, with 8:38 remaining in regulation BYU responded with four straight points from Demin and Saunders. The Cougars continued to keep VCU at arms length over the final minutes with Baker going 4-of-4 from the free throw line to secure BYU’s first win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since 2011. 

Up Next
The Cougars will return to Ball Arena on Saturday to take on the No. 13 Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament with the tipoff time to still be announced.