Disruptive defense pushes BYU past Arizona State in Big 12 opener

BYU basketball opened up Big 12 play with a decisive 76-56 victory against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Cougars led the Sun Devils wire-to-wire to bring the new year 1-0 in conference play and 10-2 overall this season.

Richie Saunders had the Marriott Center crowd in a frenzy to start the game as he connected on his first three shots to put BYU ahead 18-4 with 11:37 left in the first half.

Saunders returned to the lineup after missing last week's Florida A&M game with a concussion he suffered against Wyoming. He led BYU with 13 points and four rebounds in the first half en route to a career night.

"Getting knocked and having that concussion stuff, like it was really hard," said Saunders. "I just was so excited to play again... that stuff for me was what I'll remember forever."

BYU's offense stagnated without Saunders in the gam, and they let Arizona State back in the game after leading 26-10 with 6:37 left in the first half. The Cougar defense was masterful and held Arizona State to 2-15 from 3 and 32% from the field overall in the first half. But after a few mental lapses from BYU, Arizona State managed their way back into the game, trailing 31-26 at halftime.

The second half started the exact same way as the first half did. Saunders scored nine points as BYU surged to a commanding 50-32 lead in the second half. He finished his career night with 30 points and six rebounds.

"I've said it from day one. I mean he's a flat-out stud," said BYU head coach Kevin Young. "The thing I love about him is just how hard he plays number one, but then number two ... you don't have to run stuff for him to be able to get shots ... he's just very optimistic."

The Cougars defense again had the Sun Devils offense befuddled. They turned multiple Sun Devils turnovers into points in quick succession and suffocated every shot attempt. Since their loss against Providence, BYU has improved incrementally over their last three games on the defensive end of the floor.

"I was happy with our defense. You know that's been something that we've been harping on since that Providence game," said Young. "I thought there was a lot of carryover with the thing that we've been asking our guys to do."

Against Arizona State, BYU put together its best wire-to-wire defensive game of the season.

I thought they were very good on defense," said Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley. "They were very aggressive at that end of the floor and they took a lot away from us today."

The Sun Devils scored 56 points on 36.8% from the field and 20.7% from 3. The Sun Devils are one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country this season, averaging 38.5% from 3 this year.

"This was our worst offensive game of the season by far and you know I'm sure BYU had a lot to do with that today," said Hurley.

Outside of Saunders, there were a few other Cougars who performed well.

Keba Keita was a force on both sides of the ball, setting screens and protecting the basket. He finished the game one point shy of a double-double. He scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds, along with a block.

Dawson Baker had a quiet nine points and five assists. He continues to be BYU's go-to ball handler off the bench, and his ability to score and facilitate playing with the second unit fills a pivotal role for his team.

The freshmen phenoms did not steal the headlines for BYU, but both put forth solid performances. Kanon Catchings had one of his best two-way games as a Cougars, scoring 11 points on 3 of 7 from 3.

Egor Demin had a quiet night stat-wise; he scored four points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out seven assists.

"My biggest thing with Kanon and Egor is just to continue to just try and help them get better every day," said Young. "If we do that and just think about what the best versions of them look like in March, that gets me excited relative to what else we have in our locker room."

The Cougars, in the month of December, took massive strides towards being the team they ultimately can be in March.

Up next for BYU is a physical matchup against Houston Saturday at noon on the road, where it can take another step in the right direction.