BYU Hammers No. 23 Kansas In Wire-To-Wire Victory
Feb 18, 2025, 9:12 PM | Updated: Feb 19, 2025, 10:14 am
PROVO, Utah – It was a night that BYU basketball dreamed of for years. The opportunity to host the Kansas Jayhawks in a conference game.
Those dreams probably didn’t feature many blowout victories.
Dominant win.
BYU 91, No. 23 Kansas 57 pic.twitter.com/dYMb4Bnlq9
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 19, 2025
That’s what happened on Tuesday night in front of a sold-out crowd at the Marriott Center. BYU cruised to a dominant 91-57 victory over No. 23 Kansas in the Jayhawks’ first visit to Provo since 1960.
It was a wire-to-wire victory. From the opening tip, first-year head coach Kevin Young and his staff ran circles over the veteran Kansas staff led by Bill Self.
Once the Big 12 juggernaut, Kansas has now fallen to BYU twice since the Cougars joined the league.
BYU defeated Kansas last year in Allen Fieldhouse, 76-68.
Tuesday’s win gives BYU sole possession of fifth place in the Big 12 Conference standings. They are two games behind Iowa State and Texas Tech, who lost to TCU on Tuesday night, for fourth.
The victory also gave BYU a coveted Quad 1A victory as Kansas entered the night No. 15 in the NET ratings.
Kansas drops to 17-9 overall and 8-7 in Big 12 play.
BYU star Richie Saunders finished with a game-high 22 points and was 4-of-8 from three-point range.
Five BYU players, four of which were in the starting five, finished in double-figures.
First Half
18:13 – Trevin Knell started the scoring for BYU by knocking down a three to put him over 1,000 points in his career. Then Mawot Mag got free for a layup, and BYU’s following possession, Keba Keita gathered an offensive rebound to set up a Richie Saunders triple. Quickly, Bill Self burned a timeout as the Marriott Center crowd erupted. BYU 8, Kansas 0.
15:49 – Kansas quickly responded with a 5-0 run after the early timeout from Self as Dickinson buried a quick midrange jumper followed by a Zeke Mayo three. However, the spacing from BYU created wide-open three-point opportunities.
Keba Keita was once again a tone-setter on the glass by creating second chance opportunities for the Cougars. BYU 13, Kansas 5.
13:02 – BYU reeled off a 14-2 run that was capped off by a corner three from Mawot Mag to force Bill Self into his second timeout of the half. BYU 22, Kansas 7.
11:44 – Kansas started to settle in on the defensive end against BYU’s second unit. On the offensive end, Rylan Griffen buried a three and Flory Bidunga got a layup at the rim.
BYU reserve Kanon Catchings had a nice offensive rebound where he high-pointed the basketball over the defender, which was then followed by a third look with Richie Saunders hitting a three. BYU 25, Kansas 12.
8:32 – BYU went on a drought, hitting only one of seven from the field. The Jayhawks were able to cut BYU’s lead to single digits. BYU 25, Kansas 17.
6:56 – The field goal drought continued for BYU with the return of the starting lineup back onto the floor. However, BYU’s defense in the post against Dickinson was making its presence felt. BYU 26, Kansas 17.
2:43 – Mawot Mag ended BYU’s six-minute field goal drought with a three. Then Richie Saunders took over, knocking down eight points. Saunders jumped out to a 5-for-5 start from the field.
Reserve guard Trey Stewart gave some quality minutes, immediately generating a steal on Dajuan Harris after checking into the game. BYU 38, Kansas 22.
Halftime: BYU 46, Kansas 26
BYU crushed Kansas in the first half. The Cougars knocked down 10 3-pointers on 24 attempts.
BYU had three players in double-figures with Richie Saunders leading the way with 14 points.
Kansas shot 37% from the field, 25% from three, and only attempted one free throw in the first half.
Second Half
17:00 – Hunter Dickinson opened the second half with a three, then Trevin Knell had a miss on BYU’s end. For a moment, it felt like maybe Kansas would have a run in them, but that was short-lived as BYU put together an 8-0 run forcing Bill Self into another early timeout as he did in the first half. BYU 54, Kansas 29.
14:00 – Egor Demin knocked down a three over Hunter Dickinson leading to another Kansas timeout.
Richie Saunders continued to be everywhere on both ends. He had a blocked shot on KJ Adams, then bullied defenders in the paint for a tough bucket for his seventh field goal. BYU 64, Kansas 33.
6:53 – BYU had a lineup of Trey Stewart, Dawson Baker, Dallin Hall, Mihailo Boskovic, and Fousseyni Traore on the floor for nearly five minutes and they built on the large lead.
Imagine saying that two weeks ago.
Dallin Hall heated up, knocking down a three and getting to the rim for a layup. Hall had a beautiful pass in the corner to Trey Stewart for a wide-open three-point attempt, but Stewart couldn’t connect. BYU 76, Kansas 41.
3:39 – KU’s AJ Storr scored his first points by knocking down a three. His impact on the game was minimal. BYU 85, Kansas 49.
Final: BYU 91, No. 23 Kansas 57
Up next for BYU basketball
BYU heads back on the road to face another AP Top 25 team in the No. 19 Arizona Wildcats in Tucson on Saturday, February 22. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. (MST) on ESPN and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.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.
