BYU holds off Utah for 12th straight win, 89-84

It wasn’t the blowout a lot of people were expecting, but in the end, the #9 BYU basketball team had enough to hold off upset-minded Utah Saturday night at the Huntsman Center, 89-84. Richie Saunders …

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – It wasn’t the blowout a lot of people were expecting, but in the end, the #9 BYU basketball team had enough to hold off upset-minded Utah Saturday night at the Huntsman Center, 89-84.

Richie Saunders scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and BYU matched a school record set in 1980 with its 12th straight victory.

“It’s amazing,” Saunders said. “We came up here and came up short in overtime, lost by one, lost by two (the previous year). To be able to finish this time, it is amazing.”s

This was Saunders first victory over the Utes in the Hunstman Center in his fours years as BYU.

Robert Wright III had 23 points and AJ Dybantsa added 20 for BYU. For Dybantsa, it was the ninth straight game that he has reached the 20-point mark. Saunders tied his career high with 14 rebounds for the Cougars (15-1, 3-0 Big 12).

Dybantsa scores 24 as BYU opens Big 12 play with a win

“Richie’s will to win is like nothing I have ever been around,” said BYU coach Kevin Young. “We all wanted to get a win for him here his senior year. He was just possessed, man, in a good way. He just wasn’t going to lose.”

Terence Brown scored 25 points for Utah but turned the ball over in the corner with 8.9 seconds left when his team had a chance to tie. Saunders was fouled and clinched the game with two free throws.

Don McHenry had 21 points for the Utes (8-8, 0-3), who have lost three in a row but never let BYU relax in this rivalry game.

“I think it was, there was a lot of little things, a lot of game plan things, little details that I don’t know if we just forgot or didn’t pay attention to,” Utah head coach Alex Jensen said about what cost Utah against the Cougars. ““Down the stretch, we’ve talked about it for a while because we’re going to give up size to other teams, but giving up the offensive (boards), it’s hard to get a stop and then they get the offensive rebounds. It’s a hard thing to come back from, especially the last few minutes.”

After the Utes drew to 81-80, Wright scored four points and assisted on Keba Keita’s layup — but missed a shot that left it a one-possession game.

The Cougars went on a 12-2 run to start the second half. Saunders had six points during the surge and his reverse layup made it 57-45 with 15:43 to play.

Keanu Dawes’ thunderous dunk gave Utah a 24-20 lead with 9:29 left in the first half. BYU responded with a 9-0 spurt, punctuated by Wright’s 3-pointer, and finished the period ahead 45-43.

The schools are separated by 45 miles and there were almost as many Cougars fans as Utes supporters in the sellout crowd. At halftime, new Utah football coach Morgan Scalley introduced his staff through chants from BYU fans and then said, “This is the best rivalry in the nation” to which all fans could cheer.

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The Cougars are 9-0 when Saunders scores 20 or more.

Dybantsa has nine straight 20-point games, second-most for a Big 12 freshman behind former Oklahoma guard Trae Young.

BYU will try to set a school record with its 13th straight victory when the Cougars host TCU on Wednesday.

Utah next visits No. 14 Texas Tech on Wednesday.

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Source: Utah News