Saunders leads balanced scoring as BYU bounces back with win over NC State

PROVO — Say what you will about this BYU men's basketball team, but it doesn't stay down for long.

That, or North Carolina State might never play the Cougars again.

Richie Saunders led a balanced scoring effort with 13 points as the Cougars beat the Wolfpack in a multi-team event over Thanksgiving weekend for the second consecutive year with a 72-61 win Friday afternoon in the Rady Children's Invitational at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, California.

Egor Demin had 8 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for BYU, which got 9 points, five rebounds and three assists from Dallin Hall and 9 points and three rebounds from Dawson Baker.

Fousseyni Traore had 10 points and five rebounds for the Cougars, and Keba Keita supplied 6 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots a day after being held scoreless in a 96-85 overtime loss to No. 23 Ole Miss.

"It was a fun win today after what happened last night," Traore told BYU Radio. "It was definitely super disappointing. We thought we had it in the gym, but it didn't go our way. Of course, our coach talked to the whole team and said it's time to move on.

"We just had to move on and get ready to win."

Jayden Taylor led North Carolina State with 16 points and five rebounds, and Michael O'Connell also scored 16 for the Wolfpack (5-2), who trailed by as much as 24 in the second half, who trailed by as much as 24 in the second half before rallying back.

But the Cougars outrebounded NC State by 13, and assisted on 17-of-25 field goals in the wire-to-wire win.

"Really unselfish group," BYU first-year head coach Kevin Young told FOX Sports after the game, while noting the team's "attention to detail" on defense. "We've got a lot of guys who can make it. When we're sharing the ball, we're really hard to stop."

Less than 24 hours after shooting just 1-for-3 from the field for 2 points and four assists, Hall had 6 points with a pair of 3-pointers by the middle of the first half and Traore added three rebounds and a thunderous dunk off the bench to lift the Cougars to a 23-14 lead with 9:22 to go before halftime.

BYU shot 54% from the field and outrebounded the Pack 20-13 before the break, while NC State made just four of its first 17 shots from the field and shot 30% in the first half.

The Cougars gave away nine turnovers in the first half, but the Wolfpack turned them into just 4 points and Trevin Knell and Baker combined for 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench en route to BYU's 38-27 halftime lead.

But the Cougars didn't stop there.

Saunders stretched the lead to 52-32 with a 3-pointer five minutes into the second half, his third of the game that capped a 14-2 run.

In addition to connecting on 10 of their first 21 shots from the field, including 4-of-10 from deep, the Cougars limited NC State to 5 makes on their first 16 takes with just two 3-pointers through the second half.

O'Connell cut into the deficit, capping an 11-1 run with a breakaway dunk that pulled the Wolfpack within 66-52 with 4:42 to play.

With an effort on controlling the paint and the glass, Demin — the 6-foot-9 freshman guard from Moscow, Russia — was among the many that went to work as he collected his career-high 11 assists.

"He affects the game so many ways," Young said of Demin. "I think you forget, because he plays as a guard, just how long he is. He can get in there and mix it up on the glass. He affects the game in so many ways.'

The Cougars didn't hit a field goal for more than six minutes down the stretch, but kept the double-digit lead with a 45-32 rebounding margin that included 15 offensive boards and a 30-point to 20 advantage in the paint.

"I feel like the key was just to play tough; play like a man," said Traore, the Wasatch Academy alum whose sister Mariam has signed with head coach Amber Whiting's program. "Secure the offensive rebound and keep the ball. We executed the game plan well."

BYU travels to Providence on Tuesday to take part in the Big East-Big 12 challenge (6:30 p.m. MST, FS1).

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