BYU Takes Down UCF To Earn Quad One Road Victory
Feb 1, 2025, 5:01 PM | Updated: Feb 2, 2025, 2:29 pm
BYU basketball escaped Orlando to defeat UCF 81-75 on Saturday afternoon. The game was viewed as a “Bubble Watch” matchup, with both teams near the cutline in NCAA Tournament projections.
The win gives BYU its fourth consecutive and second road win in as many tries. It’s a sign that BYU has turned the corner and learned from the heartbreaking lessons they endured in close losses to open Big 12 play.
Final: BYU 81, UCF 75
Quad One victory on the road.
Four wins in a row for BYU. Cougs should be climbing in Bracketology heading into next week.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
Neither team had a lead bigger than seven points in this closely contested matchup.
BYU 81, UCF 75: Fourth consecutive win for the Cougars
The 81-75 victory improves BYU’s record to 15-6 overall and 6-4 in the Big 12.
BYU junior Richie Saunders led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field. It was Saunders’ fifth game, reaching the 20-point mark in Big 12 play. He knocked down six three-pointers in the win.
Fifth game in Big 12 play BYU junior Richie Saunders has reached 20 points.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
“We’ve learned [from previous close games],” Saunders said on ESPN+ after the win over UCF. “We’ve lost some heartbreakers where the same thing happened, but it didn’t go our way. We didn’t finish it out. It just shows that we are learning and we’re going to continue to grow and learn.”
UCF’s leading scorer was Keyshawn Hall, the Big 12’s leading scorer in conference play, who had 20 points. But most of his points didn’t come until the final 12 minutes of the game.
BYU’s Mawot Mag scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. Mag had the task of defending Hall on the opposite end.
Along with Saunders and Mag, BYU had Trevin Knell (15) and Keba Keita (10) score in double-figures.
BYU escaped Orlando with a win in a game with 17 turnovers. The Knights scored 18 points off BYU’s turnovers.
First Half
15:28 – BYU committed four turnovers in the opening stretch of play; all seven of UCF’s points were off BYU’s turnovers. The Cougars knocked down 3-of-5 from the field to open, but the turnovers kept UCF within striking distance of BYU. BYU 8, UCF 7.
13:26 – UCF star Keyshawn Hall was called for a common foul trying to box out BYU’s Mawot Mag. Hall appeared to hug Mag on the box out, so a foul was called. The call occurred as BYU was about to have a shot-clock violation. Hall was not happy with the call and had some words for officials. The refs then gave him a technical foul, bringing him up to three fouls in the first half. BYU 16, UCF 12.
pics from the early going pic.twitter.com/Wa3O0VDkYx
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 1, 2025
11:35 – BYU couldn’t extend its lead with Hall on the bench. The Cougars went on a scoring drought, missing its last five field goal attempts before the media timeout. On the flip side, UCF knocked down five of its last seven shots from the field. BYU 16, UCF 16.
7:18 – BYU was down by five until Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders made back-to-back 3-pointers. Saunders opened the game by shooting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Both defenses are playing physically in this matchup. UCF’s defense has caused some issues for BYU, as the Knights recorded five steals. BYU 25, UCF 24.
3:27 – UCF’s Darius Johnson and Moustapha Thiam reached double-figures in scoring. They are a combined 8-of-15 from the field.
BYU’s Fousseyni Traore knocked down a bucket after a nice pass from Dallin Hall but limped up and down the floor after the bucket. UCF 34, BYU 29.
Halftime: UCF 40, BYU 38
Trevin Knell knocked down a four-point to end the half for BYU. The senior guard knocked down four of his six 3-point attempts in the first half.
Three-point shooting kept BYU in the game against UCF.
The Cougars hit 8-of-17 from beyond the arc, with seven of those eight 3-pointers coming from Knell and Richie Saunders.
Knell and Saunders were BYU’s leading scorers in the first half, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.
UCF scored 14 points off turnovers on BYU in the first half. BYU had zero.
The Cougars had 12 turnovers to UCF’s three. UCF had nine steals to BYU’s one.
UCF outscored BYU by six points without Keyshawn Hall in the game.
Second Half
16:22 – BYU opened the second half on an 8-0 run. What also got BYU on the run is that the officials started to tighten the whistle on UCF. The refs called two early fouls on the physical defense from UCF guard Darius Johnson on Egor Demin.
Mawot Mag scored the first six points of the second half to get things rolling. BYU 46, UCF 40.
11:29 – Mawot Mag is everywhere. He knocked down another seven points. UCF’s Keyshawn Hall got to the foul line to get on the board in the second half. BYU 53, UCF 49.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 1, 2025
7:07 – UCF’s Keyshawn Hall began finding his shot as he knocked down his first three of the game on a stepback. Richie Saunders, who had missed seven consecutive attempts, countered with a three of his own to tie the game. BYU 58, UCF 58.
3:47 – Back-and-forth action between BYU and UCF until Richie Saunders knocked down a three before the media timeout to keep BYU in front. BYU 68, UCF 65.
1:20 – BYU built up a two-possession lead thanks to Egor Demin burying a three for his first points of the game. Then Keba Keita cleaned up an offensive rebound off a Mawot Mag miss.
On the defensive end, BYU was fortunate that the officials didn’t whistle Keba Keita with a tripping foul on Darius Johnson. The ball rolled out of bounds and BYU capitalized with Mawot Mag getting in the lane for another bucket. BYU 77, UCF 71.
ROAD DUB✔️ pic.twitter.com/OwVZckLaRC
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 1, 2025
Final: BYU 81, UCF 75
Keba Keita knocked two clutch free throws to keep BYU in front by six. UCF’s Ivy-Curry missed a deep three, and Dallin Hall knocked down one of two from the free throw line to put BYU in front by three possessions.
UCF got down by five and had the possession, but then Keita had a block party, closing the game with a pair of blocks to secure the win.
Up next for BYU basketball
BYU basketball will host the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday in a late-night Big 12 clash at the Marriott Center. Arizona defeated Arizona State on Saturday and will likely be in the AP Top 25 entering Tuesday’s 9 p.m. matchup in Provo.
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.
