LAS VEGAS – BYU’s Bruce Branch III was one of four Cougars to score in double figures as No. 25 BYU defeated UNLV 89-77 on Saturday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
After trailing by as much as 12 points in the first half, Branch III led the second half comeback on his 18thbirthday finishing with 12 points and six assists after halftime. The freshman finished with 14 points and eight assists to lead the Cougars to their fifth straight win in Sin City.
Collin Chandler finished with a team-high 23 points as the junior went 5-of-9 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Jaxon Kohler scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half as he knocked three 3-pointers. Robert Wright III chipped in 19 points, four assists and two steals as the Cougars shot 46.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 71.4 percent from the free throw line.
First Half
After missing its first two shots of the game and trailing 2-0, Chandler got the Cougars on the board with a 3-pointer at 18:45. The junior would continue to carry the offense early with another 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to make it 6-4 in favor of the visitors.
The Runnin’ Rebels made seven consecutive shots to take a 15-7 lead with 14 minutes left before Wright III became the first Cougar not named Chandler to get on the scoresheet with a pair of free throws. A block turned into more free throws for the Cougars as Chandler went 2-for-2 after Kohler’s block on Sebastian Mack.
Kohler scored four straight points in the paint for the Cougars but a wide-open corner 3-pointer from Jal Cunnningham pushed UNLV’s lead to 21-15 forcing a BYU timeout. Brooks Bahr started a 4-0 run for the Cougars with back-to-back steals. The first resulted in a layup for the true freshman while Branch III got past his defender for a layup. UNLV’s Cunningham responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to stop the momentum.
The Runnin’ Rebels continued to punish the Cougars from behind the arc with Mack knocking down their fifth triple of the first half to push the deficit to 10, 32-22. Kohler knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to reach double figures and cut the deficit to four points, 34-30.
Mack scored six of the next points for the Runnin’ Rebels push BYU’s deficit to a game-high 12, 42-30. The Cougars responded with a 11-0 run of their own over the final 2:48 with Kohler knocking down his third 3-pointer of the game to open the run followed by eight straight points from Wright III to send the Cougars into the locker room trailing by 1, 42-41.
Second Half
Branch III gave the Cougars their first lead since three minutes into the contest with a floater on the opening possession of the second half. He followed that up with a pull-up jumper before turning facilitator to find Kohler in the paint for an easy two. The duo would connect a minute later on a similar play as BYU trailed 51-49 at the under 16 media timeout.
The Cougars defense held the Runnin’ Reblels without a basket for more than three minutes until Moustapha Loum had the putback. Nate Pickens connected on a corner 3-pointer for his first points of the game to tie it at 53-all. Branch III continued his resurgence with an alley-oop to Mboup and turnaround jumper to give BYU a four-point lead, 57-56.
BRUCE ➡️ KHADIM 📺MW+ https://t.co/qL18UfYpf6
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) October 24, 2026
Branch III continued to control the game with another tough layup coming as a result of BYU’s 14th offensive rebound of the game. Another alley-oop to Mboup gave the Cougars a short-lived 3-point lead as Mack scored for straight to help the Runnin’ Rebels to retake the lead 62-61 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.
Mack kept the Cougars at bay momentarily with another contested jump over Kohler before Chandler reached double figures with a pair of free throws followed by an old-fashioned 3-point play by Wright III as the Cougars retook the lead, 66-64.
Wright’s bucket and free throws before the media timeout kickstarted a 9-0 run for the Cougars they took a 7-point lead, 71-64. Kohler scored on a mismatch in the paint followed by three straight points from Chandler including an acrobatic layup finish.
Chandler connected on his third 3-pointer of the game followed by Wright’s first trip of the night making it 77-68 with four minutes left in regulation. The Farmington’s native hot shooting continued with a four-point play to push the Cougars lead to double figures, 81-69.
The teams traded scores the rest of the way as BYU finished the exhibition portion of its schedule 2-0 outscoring opponents by a combined 28 points.
Up Next
BYU opens the 2026-27 season on Monday, Nov. 2, when the Cougars face Ohio State at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on FS1 and BYU Radio Network.