BYU basketball kicks off the Kevin Young era with win over Central Arkansas

On election night, BYU basketball opened its season, and the Kevin Young Era, by defeating the Central Arkansas Bears 88-50.

The Cougars started the season off strong as Trevin Knell hit his first 3-pointer of the season just seconds into the game on Tuesday.

It was Egor Demin’s official debut as a BYU Cougar playing in front of fans in the Marriott Center and on television for the first time. Demin was impressive early, knocking down two quick 3s in the game's early stages.

With Dallin Hall out with an injury, Demin was the starting point guard alongside Knell, Richie Saunders, Kanon Catchings and Keba Keita. The freshman phenom was in a groove, scoring 13 points and tossing six assists in the first half. Whether he was throwing lobs to Catchings, kicking it out to open corner shooters, or dialing up long-range 3s, Demin was pinpoint all game long.

The two freshmen stars were connecting all game long.

"I mean the connection today was like, you know, can go to the rim," said Demin. "That's it, nothing really hard. Nothing complicated. We keep it simple. I mean, he go on the rim. I just throw it there. That's it."

What will likely be a common storyline all season long is that Demin and Catchings were the best players on the court and nothing Central Arkansas did worked. At one point, the Bears vacated the lane on a Demin drive because they were so worried about him throwing another lob to Catchings.

While Demin stole the headlines with his dazzling 18-point, 11-assist performance, BYU received significant contributions from Saunders and Catchings.

Saunders scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Catchings scored 18 points on 4 of 11 shooting from 3 and swatted two shots. The other key contributor Wednesday night was Mihailo Boskovic. He was recently declared eligible for this season and will be an essential piece for the Cougars going forward.

"I actually thought Mahilo came in and kind of steadied the ship a little bit," said Young. "You know he's experienced, and he's a calming presence out there. ... He can play multiple positions. You know, he just really knows how to play. I think he gives us a little bit of toughness as well on the defensive end."

The Cougars, as a team, were 15 of 43 from 3, not exactly lighting it on fire, but still enough to almost double their opponent's score.

"This team's got the green light to put up those numbers. I mean, they definitely have the green light," said Young. "Is it going to be 44 every night? You know, maybe not, but I do want it to be a high-volume thing we've talked about with our guys."

The Cougars were dominant in every facet of the game. They outscored the Bears 24-8 in points off turnovers, 36-16 in points in the paint, 23-2 in second-chance points and 12-1 in fast-break points. The Cougars' length and athleticism, one through five, were on display the entire night.

"One thing their coach said to me when we were walking off the court just was very complimentary of just our length," said Young. "You know, I don't think we're certainly not the biggest at the five spot, but everywhere else, I think we've got tremendous length."

Early on, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the Cougars. BYU showed some weaknesses on defense, giving up easy baskets and long rebounds.

"It was a lot of defensive lapses to start the game. You know, our switching was poor," said Young. "They got way too many easy baskets. attribute that to whatever, you know, you want, but that's why."

However, BYU got it together in the second half and their length caused a lot of disruption en route to an easy victory.

It was only the Cougars' first game of the season, but the talent on the floor and the way they played showed that something special is happening in Provo, especially with their two young stars.