Selflessness leads to easy win for BYU basketball over NC State – Deseret News

Their ability to close out a one-sided game left a little to be desired, but overall, the BYU Cougars showed the talent, depth and depth with a convincing 72-61 win over North Carolina State on Friday Unselfishness exists to beat some good college basketball teams this season.

BYU bounced back well from Thursday’s overtime loss to No. 23 Ole Miss at the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego, dominating the ACC team that played in the Big Dance’s Final Four last year from the opening tip until about eight minutes left .

“It was a fun win after what happened last night,” senior Fousseyni Traore told the BYU Sports Radio Network. “…The key was to play hard, play like a man. I feel like we know a little bit about ourselves now.”

The Cougars (6-1) led 65-41 with 8:42 left after Traore hit a 3-point play, then only managed one field goal the rest of the way as they were careless with the ball and suddenly the arch became cold from the outside.

That hardly mattered, however, as North Carolina State (5-2) shot a season-low 37% from the field and never got on track offensively against a combination of BYU defenses.

“I’m just proud of her. “The boys were stuck. I loved their attention to detail on a game plan with such quick execution,” BYU coach Kevin Young said.

“But it’s definitely all about the players. I think it was just as helpful for me to learn more about our team and what I need to do better as a coach to put our guys in a better position to succeed. We will certainly take a lot from this. I’m glad we came.”

BYU was clearly the superior team against a Wolfpack crew that fell 71-61 to No. 13 Purdue on Thursday, and it would have been fascinating to see how the Cougars handled the Boilermakers.

Settling for an 11-point win when it could have been in the 20s was slightly disappointing and could be significant come March when NCAA Tournament bids are awarded.

But so much for the style points – even if they are important even at the end of November. The Cougars needed to show they could beat a good team on their schedule after going 5-0 to a bunch of cupcakes heading into this two-day tournament.

They also showed some resilience after what was expected to be emotional disappointment over their failure to knock out an unbeaten team in the national rankings on Thursday.

“I’m happy to see our guys getting back on their feet,” Young said. “I thought our overall performance was really good on a lot of levels.”

Another important key to victory was selflessness. The Cougars assisted on 17 of 25 field goals by moving the ball well to find the open man.

Nine Cougars scored, led by Richie Saunders with 13 and Traore with 10. Freshman Egor Demin filled the stat sheet again with eight points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.

“We have a lot of people who can make baskets,” Young said. “When we share the ball, we’re really hard to stop.”

Jayden Taylor and Michael O’Connell each had 16 points, leading NC State to lead all scorers. However, the Wolfpack was outrebounded 45-32 and gave up 15 offensive rebounds, which the Cougars converted into 12 second-chance points.

“Demin influences the game in so many ways. I think you forget because he plays guard, you forget how long he plays,” Young said. “Even some of the blocks he’s had, not just in this game but throughout the year, are a product of his length.”

BYU made its first four 3-point attempts – Saunders and Dallin Hall hit two each – and quickly jumped out to a 14-5 lead, making it clear it had shrugged off Thursday’s overtime loss to Ole Miss.

The Cougars maintained a lead of five or more points in the first half and led 15, 33-18, with less than four minutes to play before halftime.

North Carolina State began to figure out BYU’s defense and managed a small lead at the end of the first half, with Stanford transfer O’Connell scoring 10 first-half points.

BYU struggled to control the ball in the first half after committing 17 turnovers less than 24 hours earlier. Only BYU’s nine ties in the first half prevented the Cougars from having a significant halftime lead.

So to speak, BYU led 38-27 and was in control as seven Cougars scored in the first half, led by Hall with eight.

Offensive highlights in the first half included Demin’s driving left-handed dunk over Ben Middlebrooks, a lob to Keba Keita for an easy dunk and Demin’s cross-court pass to Dawson Baker for an open 3-pointer.

Baker had nine points off the bench as BYU’s reserves outscored NC State’s 29-14.

BYU finished the game with 10 3-pointers and has made 10 triples or more in five straight games.

North Carolina State led the country in averaging 25 fast break points per game, but had zero in the first half and finished the game with just five.

“Obviously it feels a lot better to get the separation (on the trip),” Young said. “It started with a tough game that we should have won against Ole Miss. … We really enjoy being on the road. It somehow brings you together when you travel. What a great event here in a beautiful city.”

Next up for BYU is a cross-country trip to Rhode Island, where the Cougars will face Providence College (5-3) on Tuesday.