BYU basketball upends Kansas State's 6-game winning streak with 80-65 win

PROVO — Arguably the hottest team in the Big 12 was, as the late great Stuart Scott would say, as cool as the other side of the pillow.

But Richie Saunders tallied his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds as the Cougars upended the Wildcats' six-game winning streak with a 80-65 win Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 17,228 fans at the Marriott Center.

Fousseyni Traore added 11 points and four rebounds; and Keba Keita had 9 points, 11 boards and a career-best five blocked shots as the Cougars (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) outrebounded Kansas State 40-31 and outraced the visitors 40-30 in the paint.

In all, four BYU players finished with three or more rebounds as the Cougars collected 14 on the offensive glass to pace 11 second-chance points.

And yes, that really was Saunders' first career double-double — even if his head coach couldn't believe it.

"Sometimes it just kind of happens like that," said Saunders, who had just 9 points in the Cougars' 73-69 road win over West Virginia. "I try to go to the glass every time, and sometimes it falls your way. Other times it doesn't. We knew going into the game that wasn't one of their strengths, so it was a point that we could attack."

Dallin Hall had 16 points and three assists for BYU, which got eight assists and a late 3-pointer from five-star freshman Egor Demin to reach the 80-point mark.

Dug McDaniel led Kansas State with 22 points, and Brendan Hausen scored 12 for the Wildcats (13-12, 7-7 Big 12).

Saunders had 10 points and five rebounds, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the first half, and BYU used a 15-2 run through Keita in the first half to take control early.

Keita had 7 points, eight rebounds, a steal and tied a career-high with three blocks — before halftime — as the Cougars outscored the wildcats 22-10 in the paint and shot 47% from the field en route to a 38-22 halftime lead.

"I thought we set the tone really well with our defensive execution to start the first half," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "We did some really good things against a team that has been really challenging to guard because of their pick-and-roll combinations.

"In the second half, I thought Dallin really put us on our shoulders in the second half," the first-year head coach added. "And then the three-headed monster at the five was really impressive, all three of them in their respective roles."

Kansas State coach Jerome Tang gave "all credit to the BYU staff and players."

"They kicked our butts tonight," he said. "They were a better team, they were the more physical team, they were the more assertive team. They were just all-around better tonight. They get all the credit for that win."

Traore added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench for BYU, which assisted on 11-of-15 first-half field goals. Demin had five assists to lead the Cougars, and Hall added two dimes.

The Cougars didn't score for over five minutes in the first half, before Hall broke the drought with 2:56 remaining.

But the Wildcats couldn't take advantage, committing six turnovers that BYU turned into 11 points and shooting just 27% from the field before halftime. Kansas State standout Coleman Hawkins, who averaged 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, had just 1 point on 0-of-6 shooting before the break.

Hawkins finished with 6 points and eight rebounds on 2-of-9 shooting.

Hall contributed to the scoring with a lob to Keita, a 3-pointer and a finish at the rim — all within the first seven minutes of the half — to push the Cougars' lead as high as 22.

"Our shooters are so lethal, teams notice that, so they really stay out and it opens up a lot of driving lines," Hall explained of his 14-point second-half output. "My coaches and teammates have been on me to be assertive and get downhill tonight. … The rim was open, so I put it in the basket."

But mostly, Saturday night was about feeding Keita.

The big man from Bamako, Mali, shot 4-of-5 from the field and collected double-digit rebounds for the seventh time this season and 11th time in the Utah transfer's collegiate career.

"Apparently, he told someone that tonight was his 'flu game.' He hasn't been feeling well," Young said of his 6-foot-8 rim runner, a reference to Michael Jordan's (infamous?) 38-point game against the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA finals. "But he did a great job of imposing his will.

"His ability and tenacity is similar to Richie, in the way he goes after rebounds, which was big," Young added.

The Wildcats never got closer than 8 points, and that only after a 9-0 run led by Jones midway through the second half that Saunders and Dawson Baker quickly restored back to double digits with back-to-back buckets in less than a minute.

BYU hosts Kansas on Tuesday night in a game between two of the three teams currently tied for fifth in the Big 12 after the 17th-ranked Jayhawks' 74-67 loss at Utah. Tipoff at the sold-out Marriott Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST on ESPN.

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