BYU storms back to beat NC State, capture Vegas Showdown crown

These Cougars don’t quit.

Falling into an early 12-point hole, BYU men’s basketball exploded for 57 second half points to stage a raucous rally and take down NC State in the Vegas Showdown championship game Friday night in Sin City.

“They don’t know quit, they don’t know fatigue,” head coach Mark Pope said of his team. “It was really inspiring to be a part of that.”

The Cougars were heavily flustered against early Wolfpack pressure to cough up nine turnovers in the game’s opening six minutes, only to flip the script for just eight giveaways over the remainder of the contest, refusing to flinch even when playing shorthanded without big men Fouss Traore and Atiki Ally Atiki. BYU only led for about eight minutes on the night, but the Cougars’ unselfish, “agenda-free” style of play came alive when the stakes were highest to continue their unbeaten start to 2023.

“Our guys’ confidence is growing,” Pope said. “They were making aggressive plays … When our guys were aggressive and confident, trusting themselves to make plays we were good. Our guys now have some real experience that is positive about believing in their ability to go put yourself in harms way, bring on a power play and get it out. I thought our guys responded in an epic way tonight.”

Jaxson Robinson led BYU’s scoring charge with a career-high 23 points on 7-14 shooting, with the team finishing with a 56.7% shooting mark from the field.

“He was incredible, I am so proud of him,” Pope said of Robinson. “He is our leading scorer and he’s like, ‘bring me off the bench, I don’t care. I just want to help this team.’ He knows that he has a massive role and responsibility on his shoulders and the minutes he plays. Boy did he deliver in epic fashion. I thought he was incredible tonight.”

Noah Waterman continued his current hot streak with another 15 points, while Dallin Hall and Trevin Knell both added 13 and Spencer Johnson posted 11 more. Center Aly Khalifa — limited by injury prior to Friday — was the unsung hero against the Wolfpack, stepping in to replace Traore and Atiki amid a BYU size emergency and dazzled to the tune of nine rebounds, five assists, a plus/minus of 18 and a team-best 78% stop rate on defense. Simply put, the Cougars would never have clawed to a win without Khalifa.

“We were really fortunate that Aly was able to step in,” Pope said. That was a game-time decision actually, we put him through shootaround … He comes out without a live practice and plays 27 minutes in a high-level game and has a massive impact on the game.

“Not having Atiki, we knew we had our backs against the wall, and then losing Fouss early in the first half, a lesser group of guys might have added up to a tough night. Theses guys are believers and just want to fight, move onto the next play. They are growing before our eyes.”

“We knew we had to cut to the basket because (Khalifa) would find us,” Robinson added. “He was great defensively guarding D.J. Burns Jr. He helped us tremendously with Fouss and Atiki out.”

With the win, not only did BYU win the program’s first in-season tournament since 2010, but the Cougars jumped up to No. 9 in KenPom, establishing themselves as one of the most complete squads in the country.

“It’s nothing new for us,” Robinson said. “We know what we’re capable of. We know what we can do and it’s just showing the world what we got. We’ve been saying that we’re going to go out and show the world that we are a real team and can do this. Tonight was a step in the right direction.”