Mountaineers Defeated by 25th-Ranked BYU
Fousseyni Traore led 25th-ranked BYU to a 77-56 win over West Virginia on Saturday evening at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, contributing a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.
West Virginia held a 19-15 lead over the Cougars before BYU ended the first half with a 10-0 run, taking a 25-19 advantage into the locker room.
In the second half, BYU focused on feeding the ball to Traore, who helped the Cougars shoot 60.6% from the floor in the period, outscoring West Virginia 52-37.
“We had the game exactly where we wanted it,” West Virginia head coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “We had the crowd quieted and were trying to slow things down, much like we did against Texas Tech when we controlled the first 17 minutes.”
“We came out of a timeout with three minutes left, reminding the team of the Texas Tech game and stressing the importance of finishing the first half strong, both defensively and offensively,” DeVries added. “But, unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
BYU dominated in the paint with a 46-22 advantage and also outscored West Virginia’s bench 43-16.
Egor Demin, who had led BYU with 16 points in the Cougars’ previous win over West Virginia in Morgantown, scored 15 in this game, while Richie Saunders, the team’s leading scorer, contributed 13.
Traore’s inside presence compensated for BYU’s struggles beyond the arc, as the Cougars finished just five of 15 from three-point range, all five makes coming in the second half when the game slipped away from West Virginia.
Traore’s 10 rebounds helped BYU out-rebound West Virginia 43-32.
The Cougars’ largest lead reached 30 points, 73-43, with just 3:26 left in the game.
“In the second half, they started using Saunders more, and he was able to drive to the basket and finish,” said DeVries. “We knew we’d have to play one-on-one against Traore in the post with their shooting, and he really made the difference in breaking the game open.”
Javon Small was the lone West Virginia player in double figures with 15 points. He shot five of 14 from the field and faced constant double teams when he crossed midcourt.
A crowd of 17,978 attended the game.
BYU extended its winning streak to six, improving to 21-8 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 play, and moved into a tie for fourth place with Iowa State in the conference standings.
West Virginia drops to 17-12 overall and 8-10 in Big 12 play, with a game at Utah on Tuesday. The Utes, who are now coached on an interim basis by Josh Eilert, defeated Arizona State 99-73 earlier in the day. Utah holds a 16-13 overall record, tied with West Virginia forninth place in the standings.
