When it mattered the most on Saturday night, No. 22 BYU made their shots and West Virginia didn’t.
After trailing by as many as 17 in the second half, the Mountaineers were able to cut the deficit to six with 6:35 to play. The Cougars called a timeout to regroup, and they did just that.
The Cougars banked in a three-pointer, made another on two possessions later, and then after WVU’s Josiah Harris missed his chance to answer, the Cougars’ Fousseyni Traore grabbed an offensive rebound, kicking it to Jaxson Robinson, who splashed in his shot from deep.
After the timeout from the Cougars, they went on a 17-9 run until the 1:27 to play, spoiling the Mountaineers’ comeback attempt, as they handed them an 86-73 loss at the WVU Coliseum.
For the second game in a row, West Virginia (8-14, 3-6 Big 12) was trying to make a comeback late in the second half. On Wednesday, Cincinnati went cold down the stretch, but on Saturday it was the complete opposite. BYU (16-5, 4-4 Big 12) made five of their final nine three-pointers over the final 6:02, after they began the second half going 2-for-10 from distance.
Traore was inserted into the starting lineup as the Cougars’ starting center was sidelined with an illness and Traore stepped up scoring a career-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds.
BYU was able to create separation in the game over the final 2:34 of the first half.
After a frantic back-and-forth first 18 minutes, the Mountaineers and Cougars were basically dead even, with BYU leading 30-29. The Cougars would get hot from three down the stretch of the first half.
The Cougars started the first half missing their first seven three-pointers. Before the last two minutes of the opening half. BYU made two of their final three three-pointers of the first half, both from Richie Saunders. At the same time, the Mountaineers missed their final six shots of the first half, including their last three three-pointers of the first half.
The Cougars ended the first half on an 8-0 run, cementing their 38-29 lead heading into the locker room.
Jesse Edwards was the most consistent offensive option for WVU in the first half, scoring eight points and going 4-for-6 from the field. One of those field goals came on an alley-oop from Kerr Kriisa to open the game.
Edwards would be effective while he was in the game, but BYU took their lead with him off the court as he picked up two fouls and was forced to sit for a large chunk of the end of the first half. Outside of Edwards, WVU shot 9-for-31 (29%) as a team in the first half.
That separation the Cougars created towards the end of the first half, they continued early on in the second half, and WVU could never catch up.
BYU made three three-pointers within the first five minutes of the half, opening their lead to 14. Spencer Johnson made all three of those shots for the Cougars, while WVU missed their first four shots of the half.
Kriisa would be the sparkplug to try and get the Mountaineers back in the game after they trailed by as many as 16. Two three’s from Kriisa sandwiched a dunk from RaeQuan Battle, and then Kriisa drew an offensive foul on the back end.
That would eventually give West Virginia life as they went on an 8-0 run, trailing 58-50 with 11:24 to play. WVU cut BYU’s lead to as few as five after Battle made a pair of free throws with 5:26, but that’s the closest the Mountaineers would get.
Kriisa led WVU in scoring with a season-high 23 points, while Edwards added 16. WVU shot 42 percent from the field and went 8-for-28 from three.
BYU had four scorers with at least 12 points, as Saunders added 17 points, and Johnson finished with 15. The Cougars shot 49 percent from the field, and made 13 shots from beyond the arc.
