No. 25 BYU Cruises By Shorthanded Arizona State For Fifth Straight Win

BYU basketball completed its two-game Arizona road trip with a win over Arizona State on Wednesday night.

The 25th-ranked Cougars earned their fifth consecutive victory by taking down the Sun Devils 91-81. It’s the first time BYU has won five straight in league play since the 2020 season in the West Coast Conference.

Final: No. 25 BYU 91, Arizona State 81.

Season-high 17 three-pointers for the Cougars.

Richie Saunders: 6-11 (3PT)
Trevin Knell: 5-6
Mawot Mag: 2-2
Dawson Baker: 2-4
Dallin Hall: 2-4

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 27, 2025

BYU knocked down a season-high 17 three-pointers in the win. It’s tied for the fourth-most in a single game in BYU basketball history.

BYU finished 17-of-34 from three-point range against an Arizona State shorthanded ASU squad without leaders Jayden Quaintance (right knee) and Alston Mason (illness).

The Sun Devils were in their second game after dismissing the previous leading scorer, BJ Freeman, due to detrimental conduct to the team.

Arizona State didn’t have a substation in the final 13:09 of the game.

BYU’s leading scorer, Richie Saunders, scored 26 points to lead all scorers. Saunders also had six rebounds, two assists, and one assist in 33 minutes.

In two games against ASU this season, Saunders is averaging 28 points. He dropped a career-high 30 points on the Sun Devils in Provo on December 31.

It’s the third consecutive game Saunders has reached the 20-point threshold in a game.

Along with Saunders, BYU’s Trevin Knell, Dallin Hall, and Fousseyni Traore reached double figures for scoring.

Egor Demin finished with 10 assists. It’s the second time this season that Demin has dished out 10+ assists. The first time it happened was in the season opener against Central Arkansas on November 5.

BYU improves to 20-8 overall and 11-6 in Big 12 play. The Cougars are now tied with Iowa State for fourth place in the league standings.

Pregame personnel notes

• Arizona State star freshman Jayden Quaintance missed the game due to a right knee injury.
• ASU leading scorer Alston Mason missed the game due to an illness.
• Arizona State had six scholarship players available.

First Half

14:48 – BYU put together a strong start by knocking down their first five 3-point attempts. Trevin Knell knocked down three triples, while Richie Saunders buried two from beyond the arc.

Arizona State entered the game shorthanded. That was highlighted in the opening minutes as ASU guard Adam Miller left the floor after a hard pick by Knell. The first player off the bench for ASU to replace Miller was Bobby Hurley Jr., son of coach Bobby Hurley. Bobby Hurley Jr. had only played 17 minutes in Big 12 play before Wednesday’s game. BYU 17, Arizona State 11.

11:53 – BYU jumped out to a 10-point lead after a pair of buckets from Fousseyni Traore. Then Arizona State went on a 6-0 run. BYU had an assist on all eight field goals through the second media timeout. BYU 21, ASU 17.

7:56 – Arizona State’s Adam Miller left for the locker room due to a collision with BYU’s Kanon Catchings. That left ASU with six players. Yet, the Sun Devils were hanging around with nationally-ranked BYU.

ASU head coach Bobby Hurley was called for a technical. He appeared upset with the lack of a no-charging call on BYU’s Dallin Hall for a drive on his son, Hurley Jr. On the next BYU possession, Hurley Sr. was still fired up, and the refs called a technical. BYU 28, ASU 24.

5:41 – After making their first five 3-pointers, BYU missed its next six. Then Knell and Saunders found their stroke again, knocking down two triples. Bobby Hurley then called a timeout. BYU 34, ASU 25.

3:38 – Arizona State was on a six-minute drought without a field goal. Meanwhile, Saunders continued to be on fire for BYU, knocking down a long-distance three for his fourth trey of the night. BYU 39, ASU 28.

Halftime: BYU 46, Arizona State 37

Richie Saunders finished the half with 15 points on five made three-pointers. Egor Demin had six assists, followed by Trevin Knell, dishing out four dimes in the first half.

Basheer Jihad led the shorthanded Sun Devils in the first half with 10 points.

Second Half

15:49 – ASU’s Adam Miller returned to action after missing most of the first half. In the opening minutes of the second half, Miller and BYU’s Trevin Knell exchanged some shoves that led to both players getting called for technical fouls. BYU 58, ASU 45.

11:21 – Richie Saunders impacted both ends of the floor for BYU. Saunders picked off ASU’s Basheer Jihad and turned that into a fastbreak layup. BYU 67, ASU 53.

7:29 – BYU passed 300 three-pointers as a team for the season. The 2024-25 BYU Cougars are fourth in program history for most threes in a season.

ASU guard Trevor Best was called for a flagrant one foul after swiping at Dallin Hall’s face as the BYU guard went up for a layup. BYU 76, ASU 62.

4:15 – Arizona State cut BYU’s lead to single-digits at nine after an Amier Alie 3-pointer. The ASU fans started getting loud, but they were immediately silenced as Dallin Hall buried a counter-three to bump BYU’s lead back to 12.

Richie Saunders then knocked down BYU’s 16th three-pointer of the game. BYU 84, ASU 71.

1:14 – BYU has reached the 90-point mark for the third consecutive game. The Cougars knocked down eight consecutive field goals. BYU 91, ASU 76.

Final: BYU 91, Arizona State 81

Up next for BYU basketball

BYU returns to Provo to host the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday night at 8 p.m. The Cougars defeated the Mountaineers in Morgantown on February 11 to begin their current winning streak.

West Virginia is coming off a 73-55 home win over TCU in their last outing.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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