On Saturday afternoon, no. 22 BYU basketball picked up a gritty 86-73 victory over a dangerous West Virginia team. The Cougars, who led throughout the entire second half, handed the Mountaineers only their second home loss of conference play. West Virginia was 3-1 in conference play at home prior to this game, and they hadn't lost at home since star big man Jesse Edwards returned from injury. And BYU won without starting center Aly Khalifa in the lineup.
The Cougars were led in scoring by big man Fousseyni Traore. Traore had 24 points on 10/15 shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Traore was fantastic from start to finish and the Mountaineers never had an answer to stop him in the paint. He made good decisions to pass out of double teams and he punished single coverage at nearly every opportunity.
Dallin Hall controlled the game for BYU. Hall had a career high 12 assists and he only had 1 turnover. Hall had eight points, all in the second half, and all of his points came at critical moments in the game. When WVU was cutting into BYU's lead in the second half, Hall beat everyone down the floor for a layup to stop the bleeding. WVU continued to cut into BYU's lead, but Hall got into the lane and made and and-one to keep WVU at arm's length. Hall delivered the final dagger with 1:27 remaining when he hit a filthy step-back three to extend the lead to 14.
Three other BYU players scored in double figures. Richie Saunders had a very efficient 17 points on 6/10 shooting. In a critical stretch near the end of the first half, Saunders hit back-to-back threes to give BYU a nine-point lead at halftime.
Spencer Johnson made a handful of threes in very critical moments. He scored 15 points on 6/15 shooting.
Jaxson Robinson scored 12 points, all from three. He shot 4/9 from three including some critical makes to close out the game.
BYU will stay on the road for the next few days. They play Oklahoma on Tuesday evening in Norman. The Cougars are now 4-4 in conference play.
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