Demin, BYU bench lead Cougars to road win over West Virginia

PROVO — BYU men's basketball didn't get all the stops in Tuesday night's trip to West Virginia.

But the Cougars got enough of them to clinch a Quad 1 road victory.

Egor Demin poured in 16 points, three rebounds and two assists; and Kanon Catchings added 11 points and four rebounds as the Cougars snapped a two-game losing skid with a 73-69 road win over West Virginia at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Richie Saunders added 9 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Cougars (16-8, 7-6 Big 12), whose bench outscored West Virginia's reserves 38-18 after giving up 17 points off 12 turnovers.

That included 8 points, a rebound and an assist from Trey Stewart, who shot 3-for-3 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers — his highest scoring output since he totaled a career-high 10 points in the 2023-24 season opener against Houston Christian. And he did it all in just six minutes as one of eight players with at least 5 points.

"(BYU director of player development Jordan Brady) and I had a good talk that my job wasn't to play basketball, but to be basketball. My job was to be ready when my name was called," Stewart told BYU Radio after the game.

"It's a blessing to have so many people already ready on the bench," he added.

Tobi Okani had 16 points and five rebounds to lead West Virginia (15-9, 6-7 Big 12), which got 9 points and nine assists from Javon Small, and 11 points apiece from Jonathan Powell and Joseph Yesufu in a battle of Big 12 bubble teams by ESPN's Joe Lunardi.

The ESPN bracketologist tabbed the Cougars as the "last team in" in his latest update Tuesday morning, with West Virginia a No. 9 seed and one of eight teams from the Big 12 in the projected field of 68.

With retiring athletic director Tom Holmoe on hand at WVU Coliseum, BYU picked up its first Quad 1 road win of the year, after back-to-back chances that included an 84-66 loss at Cincinnati three days prior.

With both leading scorers — Saunders and West Virginia's Small — being limited to just 9 points, BYU's supporting cast took a starring role.

"More than anything, I'm just proud of our guys' response," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "This was probably our best team win all year. You had multiple guys coming in who haven't been a huge part of the rotation, and ended up making massive plays. Everybody contributed."

Okani had 9 points and three rebounds in the first half as West Virginia led by as much as 7 less than six minute into the game.

Dallin Hall connected on a pair of 3-pointers to bring BYU all the way back, and Catchings had 8 points and three rebounds to lead the Cougars in the first half.

Stewart gave the Cougars a 32-31 lead on a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left. But Powell pulled back the Mountaineers' fifth triple of the half for a 34-32 halftime advantage.

West Virginia knocked down four of its first six 3-point attempts in the second half, but BYU kept pace, and tied the game at 56-56 on Catchings' catch-and-shoot three with 9:38 to go.

The Mountaineers responded with three straight scoring possessions, and held the Cougars scoreless for more than three minutes, to take a 61-56 advantage into the final 6:25 as Small found Amani Hansberry inside.

But the 6-foot-3 Oklahoma State transfer who averages 18.9 points and 5.3 assists per game picked up his third foul moments later, and BYU capitalized with a 9-0 run that included Mihailo Boskovic's 3-pointer to take a 63-62 a minute later.

Back-and-forth both teams went, but the Cougars kept the host Mountaineers within striking distance. Demin made a pair of free throws — he was 3-for-4 from the line Tuesday — to give BYU a 70-69 edge in the final minute.

After Yesufu missed a 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining, Saunders found Boskovic for an and-one play with nine seconds remaining, and the newcomer's ensuing free throw pushed the Cougars ahead by multiple possessions to seal the win.

"That was not that call," Stewart said with emphasis postgame. "But Mihailo made a great read; he just played basketball. At the end of the day, that's what you do.

"Richie had two guys, and all of a sudden, somebody else is open," he added. "Miahi made a great read."

Added Young: "Mihailo is a guy that I've been trying to find more minutes for. He gives us a different look at the five … and his skill level is a really big weapon for us."

BYU is back home Saturday night to host Kansas State (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+) before hosting No. 17 Kansas next Tuesday at 7 p.m. MST on ESPN or ESPN2.

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