KANSAS CITY — Nine days after No. 17 BYU took down No. 12 Iowa State in a double-overtime thriller, the Cougars and the Cyclones matched up again in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
This game was just as exhilarating and included hot shooting, a great atmosphere, and a 96-92 victory for BYU.
In only their second year of the Big 12, the Cougars have advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament, etching them in as one of the premiere programs in the conference.
Up by one with only 50 seconds left, BYU guard Dallin Hall drove to the paint and found the Cougars' leading scorer, Richie Saunders, wide open behind the 3-point line. Saunders hit the shot, icing the game for BYU.
Saunders' 3-point make was emblematic of how both teams shot all game. A near complete 180 from last weeks game in Ames, Iowa.
At halftime on March 4, the score was only 33-24, and neither team scored 90 after 50 minutes of play.
In the quarterfinals, BYU came out hot, making five of its first six 3-point shot attempts.
But it was a shooters gym for all who played, especially Iowa State's guard, Curtis Jones, who scored 22 points in the first half on 6 of 9 3-point shooting.
"I felt like I couldn't miss at the time, so whenever I pulled up it went in," Jones said.
At one point, Jones made seven shots in a row, propelling the Cyclones to a 53-49 halftime lead. Both teams shot over 50.0% in the first half.
The Cyclones kept a comfortable eight-point — give or take a point — lead for the first few minutes in the second, but 3-point shooting and forcing key turnovers put BYU back in the lead.
Saunders, Hall, and Mihailo Boskovic combined to go 6 of 10 from deep, with each make silencing a rowdy Iowa State fan base.
Trey Stewart came in and played 18 key minutes, hitting two 3-pointers and holding Jones to 3-of-10 shooting in the second half.
"I really love that defensive challenge," Stewart said. "We come into the game to play harder than the guy ahead of us and I feel like we really took pride in the second half and executed that."
Saunders, who was named to the first team All-Big 12 earlier in the week, scored 23 points on 50% shooting, and dished out a career-high five assists.
BYU's offense was incredibly efficient all game, even when Iowa State held the lead, with 24 assists on 30 made field goals, only 10 turnovers, 50% from deep — the list goes on.
This marks BYU's ninth win in a row, beating four ranked teams in that span.
The Cougars will play the winner of Houston and Colorado on Friday at 5 p.m. MDT.