BYU’s Richie Saunders Earns Big 12 Recognition After Dominant Week

PROVO, Utah – For the third time in his BYU career, Richie Saunders has earned Big 12 Player of the Week.

The star senior put together an impressive week of performances that helped BYU secure victories over Arizona State and Utah.

January 1⃣2⃣ @Busey #Big12MBB Player of the Week 🏅

Richie Saunders | @BYUMBB pic.twitter.com/j0TxM0TeUt

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 12, 2026

Saunders averaged 27.5 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and 1.5 steals in the past week.

Richie Saunders: Big 12 Basketball Player of the Week

In BYU’s 104-76 win over Arizona State, Saunders scored a career-high 31 points on only 13 field goal attempts. Then he followed that performance with a 24-point, a career-high 14-rebound outing in BYU’s 89-84 win over rival Utah.

The win at Utah was Saunders’s first experience beating the Utes at the Huntsman Center in his career.

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

The Big 12 Player of the Week recognition is the first for Saunders this season. Last year, Saunders picked up back-to-back Player of the Week honors on February 24 and March 3.

“He’s a very good player and I have a lot of respect for him,” said Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley of Saunders after last Wednesday’s game against BYU. “He’s not even being talked about because of all the hype –and it’s deserving– for AJ, but I think I voted for him for Player of the Year in the conference last year, he was that good.”

Saunders is currently averaging 19.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, while shooting 51.3% from the field this season.

BYU basketball hosts TCU on Wednesday night, before going on the road for one of the top games of the week against No. 15 Texas Tech on Saturday night in Lubbock.

Big 12 Player of the Week winners during the 2025-26 season

Nov. 10: Koa Peat, Arizona & Christian Anderson, Texas Tech

Nov. 17: Kingston Flemings, Houston

Nov. 24: P.J. Haggerty, K-State

Dec. 1: Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State

Dec. 8: Milam Momcilovic, Iowa State

Dec. 15: Melvin Council Jr., Kansas

Dec. 22: Christian Anderson, Texas Tech

Dec. 30: AJ Dybantsa, BYU

Jan. 5: JT Toppin, Texas Tech

Jan. 12: Richie Saunders, BYU

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

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