Arizona State’s defensive woes continue as BYU faces little resistance in blowout
The BYU offense looked the part of an NBA system with NBA talent as it raced by Arizona State for a nearly 30-point victory on Wednesday.
Watch: State of the Sun Devils: Previewing Arizona State's offense ahead of the college football season | 22 mins
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Richie Saunders scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead No. 9 BYU to a 104-76 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday night.
Saunders, who averaged 28 points in two wins over the Sun Devils last season, went 10 of 13 from the field and made six 3-pointers. Projected top NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa added 23 points, seven boards and five assists to help the Cougars (14-1, 2-0 Big 12) win their 11th straight game. Robert Wright III had 27 points.
BYU outscored Arizona State 31-16 in fast-break points and blocked 10 shots.
Pig Johnson scored 24 points in his first ASU start while Massamba Diop had 22 points and nine rebounds to pace the Sun Devils (9-6, 0-2), who dropped their fourth game in a row.
The Cougars wasted no time imposing their will on both ends of the court.
Dybantsa scored on three straight possessions to punctuate a 13-0 run and put BYU up 16-6. Arizona State missed nine consecutive shots during that stretch. Back-to-back baskets from Diop and Moe Odum finally ended the drought.
The Sun Devils struggled to find offense again later in the half, missing six straight shots and committing four turnovers during a four-minute span. BYU rebuilt a double-digit cushion and extended its lead to 37-23 on Dybantsa’s layup with 5:08 left before halftime.
Arizona State shot just 27.5% from the field (11 of 40) in the first half.
The Cougars scored on their first four second-half possessions and went on a 20-5 run to extend their lead to 70-40 with 11:42 left. Saunders led the charge, scoring three baskets and hitting a pair of free throws over a 2 1/2-minute stretch.
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Comments
6 Comments
Obviously, Bobby's a "dead man coaching", and this is the usual, oh (bleep) it's conference play! Wash, rinse, repeat . . . The AD is probably already looking for his Dilly-Dilly of basketball . . . But "who" is that-?
To be fair ASU was down 7 players due to injuries.
Blown out by 28, at home, in conference game 2? At least last year's team waited till after the season to quit. But when you go to a gun fight with a popgun, that's what happens. Blame Rossini, he tried save 5 million, but it will cost him 3 seasons, this one and the next two, IF he can find anyone blind enough to take the job. I get he had the gambling cloud and the wrongful termination suit, but he should have manned up and handled business and started the rebuild now.