Saunders’ 26-point onslaught powers No. 9 Cougars over No. 23 Badgers 98-70

BYU's 28-point victory is the third-largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent in program history.

Author Glen Guerrette
Saunders’ 26-point onslaught powers No. 9 Cougars over No. 23 Badgers 98-70Saunders’ 26-point onslaught powers No. 9 Cougars over No. 23 Badgers 98-70
Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY — Richie Saunders matched a season-high 26 points and Robert Wright III recorded his second career double-double in No. 9 BYU's 98-70 win over No. 23 Wisconsin on Friday afternoon at the Delta Center.  

“Tonight was the first game all year where everybody that we brought in we brought in for a reason,” head coach Kevin Young said. “I think we saw that tonight. I think role definition is getting more clear. That stretch I thought Khadim (Mboup) had gave us a big lift. I thought Rob (Wright III) stepped up. Dominique Diomande came in and gave us a lift, so it was good.”

BYU asserted dominance in both halves with each of them highlighting substantial runs. Towards the beginning of regulation, the Cougars had their second-biggest run of the season with a 13-0 run falling short of their 14-0 run against Holy Cross in the home opener. Midway through the second half, BYU would never look back after a 16-3 run to push their lead to 20 at that point. 

The big scoring output was Saunders’ 26-point effort on 10-of-16 from the field and 5-9 from three. 15 of those points came in the second half where Saunders got hot from behind the arc, going 4-of-5 from deep in the half. 

AJ Dybantsa posted 18 points on 3-of-8 shooting with 11 of those points coming from the line. That free throw number by Dybantsa was the third-most made free throws in a game by a Cougar freshman.

Wright III contributed his first double-double this season, second of his career, adding 10 points and season-high 11 assists in the afternoon. 

First Half
The first three minutes saw the Cougars and Badgers trading buckets. BYU got it going from there with a 13-0 run, second largest run of the season on three straight threes by Saunders, Wright III and Mrus, a Dybantsa post-fade midrange and a Mboup tip in. The Cougars jumped out to an 18-6 lead with 12:31 remaining. 

Wisconsin responded with back-to-back threes and a putback for an 8-0 run of their own. The Cougars countered back with a 9-1 run with eight minutes to go thanks to four Dybantsa free throws and a Wright III turnaround jumper and dish inside to Diomande for a layup to bring the Cougar lead back to 12. 

After Dybantsa hit a three and a contested midrange, Khadim Mboup recorded a steal then a fastbreak slam at the other end to extend the lead to 16 forcing a Badger timeout. 

Saunders hit three-straight layups after a 14-2 Wisconsin run to help keep the Cougar in double-digits, 45-33 at half.

Second Half
Wright III and Baker got the scoring started in the half with back-to-back paint baskets. Off a Badger layup, Mboup slammed it home from a Wright III bounce pass to push Cougars ahead by 14 with 16:11 to go.

A pair of free throws by Keba Keita stopped the bleeding of a 9-2 Wisconsin run with 12:58 to go. From there, BYU would not look back as two Saunders three and a Mrus three from the wing catapulted the Cougars to a 20-point advantage going into the media timeout.

Both teams went bucket-for-bucket out of the timeout until Saunders hit a moving-top-of-the-key three from a Dybantsa swing pass while getting fouled to make the score 81-58 with 6:25 remaining. 

Six consecutive made free throws by Boskovic and Dybantsa, back-to-back Aleksej Kostic threes off the bench and a Wright III three went on to cap off the 98-70 victory over the Badgers.

Up Next
The Cougars hit the road for the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Invitational against Miami at State Farm Field House in Orlando, Florida on Thursday, Nov. 27th.

Notes&Quotes
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