Analysis: No. 25 BYU’s offensive versatility on full display in 77-56 rout of visiting West Virginia
Mountaineers took away Cougars’ 3-point shooting, so Fouss Traore went to work inside to flip the script
For about 17 minutes on Saturday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers were showing themselves, and every other team in the Big 12, how to slow down the well-oiled machine known as the BYU basketball offense.
The visitors were doing it so well in front of 17,978 at the sold-out Marriott Center that they had a 4-point lead and were causing a rather uneasy, and unfamiliar, feeling to sweep through the crowd.
Then it was as if BYU coach Kevin Young flipped a switch, went to Plan B, and all was right again in Cougarville. The No. 25 Cougars went inside to senior Fouss Traore, who would finish with a double-double — 20 points and 10 rebounds — and WVU had no answer for the 6-foot-6 muscle man.
BYU kept it rolling in the second half, scoring 52 points after intermission, and ended up with a 77-56 conquest of WVU to stay tied for fourth place in the Big 12 standings with Iowa State.
The Cougars (21-8, 12-6) and Cyclones (22-7, 12-6) — who pounded Arizona on Saturday night — will square off Tuesday in a huge showdown in Ames, Iowa.
The No. 4 seed, and the double bye in the Big 12 tournament that comes with it, could be on the line, although BYU still has to take care of business a week from Saturday at home against rival Utah.
“That was the ultimate tale of two halves for us,” Young said.
The Cougars scored the last 10 points of the first half — in the final three minutes of that half — and the first eight points of the second half to turn a tight game into another runaway.
After going 0 for 4 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Cougars still didn’t fire away freely in the second half but did go 5 of 11 in the last 20 minutes from deep.
It started with Traore dominating inside, and when WVU finally took that away a little bit, it ended with Egor Demin, Dallin Hall and Trey Stewart bombing away from deep, successfully.
“First half, our defense held us (in the game) while we tried to figure out how to get in some kind of offensive rhythm, and then the second half our guys paid attention to details coming out of halftime where we just said ‘Hey, get to the rim,’” Young said.
“We said, ‘They are going to take away the 3-point line. They don’t have a ton of shot blocking. Just get to the rim.’ We had a determined group that did that, and that was the difference in the game.”
The Cougars outscored WVU 46-22 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 43-32. A combination of Mawot Mag, Stewart and Richie Saunders held WVU’s high-scoring Javon Small to another pedestrian game against BYU.
The second-leading scorer in the Big 12, after having only gotten four shots off in a 73-69 loss to BYU 18 days ago in Morgantown, did get off 14 shots Saturday but only made five of them and finished with just 15 points.
“Mawot is a tough guy to score on, and I thought we did a good job behind him as well,” Young said. “It was not just the guy guarding (Small), it was all five guys. We forced them to shoot 18 3s in the first half, which is not something they normally do, so good job of executing the game plan.”
West Virginia (17-12, 8-10) fell into a ninth-place tie in the standings with Utah, the team it will play Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.
“The first half we did a really good job controlling the tempo, and were able to get some long possessions and didn’t give up a bunch of transition, didn’t give up a lot of 3s,” said WVU coach Darian DeVries.
“We were able to manage it enough on the interior. In the second half, the way we were trying to defend the 3-point line, it exposed us to those interior post touches and we weren’t able to handle that as well.”
The second half was vintage BYU, and vintage Kevin Young offense, after the Cougars had their streak of scoring 40 or more points in nine straight halves snapped in the first half.
Demin got them started with a 3 from the corner, and the floodgates opened.
The catalyst was Traore, as the Cougars ran their offense through the big man, and he either scored easily at the hoop or found an open 3-point shooter when the Mountaineers collapsed on him.
“Man, it is nice, man (to get a double-double),” Traore said, “especially with these guys (Dallin Hall and Demin). I just couldn’t do it myself. We have to help each other.”
After a slow start, Demin had one of his better games, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists. Saunders didn’t make a 3-pointer but still chipped in 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
Hall and Dawson Baker had eight points apiece, and Hall had a game-high six assists.
Hall said Traore’s play made all the difference.
“I think the guy sitting right here (Traore) is the most underappreciated BYU basketball player of all time,” Hall said. “Like, he brings it every day. He is incredible off the court. He is an amazing teammate and so we have formed a really good relationship, and he is also really easy to play with.
“He finds the open spots, he seals smaller guys. Egor has also been able to find him, too, so he is great for our team both on and off the floor. I can’t say enough about Fousseyni Traore.”
It was the only time all season that BYU didn’t make at least one 3-pointer in a half.
The Mountaineers were held to 25% shooting (8 of 32) in the first half, and 33.3% in the game. They stayed reasonably close in the first half by committing just one turnover and turning five BYU turnovers into seven points.
BYU, meanwhile, shot 60.6% in the second half after the change in their offensive attack.
Having Traore “is a huge luxury and kudos to our guys for figuring out ways (to get him the ball),” Young said. “We have different ways we can score. We are not a one-trick pony. I think tonight that was on full display.”
Seventy-seven points is the most any Big 12 team has scored against the slow-it-down Mountaineers this season. Young said the easy going Demin was “ornery” and not in a good mood before tipoff, then went out and played one of his most aggressive games of the year.
“If I need to (tick) him off before the game to get him to score like that at the basket, then I will,” Young said, “but I was happy with his response.”
Midway through the first half, BYU’s Kanon Catchings sustained a left knee injury while contesting a dunk. He did not return, having played only four minutes, and spent the second half watching the game from the bench with an ice pack on his left knee.
Young said the freshman will have it looked at on Sunday.
“But I think it is more positive than not, from what I have been told,” Young said. “He seemed like he was in good spirits after (the game). … He is a sweetheart. The fact that he was out there cheering his teammates on with that bright smile, I think was cool.”
