BYU’s Jaxson Robinson Shines Against Italian Professional Team

PROVO, Utah – If BYU basketball wants to surprise people in their first Big 12 season, they will need guard Jaxson Robinson to be a high-level contributor.

He showed that in BYU’s second game of their summer foreign tour to Italy and Croatia.

some favs from game 2🎞️ pic.twitter.com/YPJoZn0wn8

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) August 23, 2023

The 6-foot-7 junior scored 26 points as BYU defeated Italian professional team Pallacanestro Trieste, 84-73.

Jaxson Robinson drops 26 points in a foreign tour game

Robinson started at the two-guard spot alongside Dallin Hall in BYU’s backcourt. The former top 50 recruit in the 2021 recruiting class played 30 minutes and shot 10-of-17 from the field. Robinson buried six of his 13 three-point attempts.

Last season, Robinson shot 34% from three-point range while starting in 30 games during his first year at BYU.

Robinson also grabbed six steals and dished out four assists against Pallacanestro. His plus/minus was a game-high plus-17.

Robinson is heading into his second year with BYU Basketball

Heading into the foreign tour, fifth-year BYU head coach Mark Pope said that Robinson has “found a sense of himself.” Last year, BYU coaches wanted the often shy Robinson to connect with teammates. Robinson appears to be finding a new comfort as part of a BYU roster that brings back nine scholarship players from last year’s team.

BYU 84 – Pallacanestro Trieste 73

J. Robinson: 26 pts, 2 rebs, 4 asts, 6 stls
T. Knell: 15 pts, 1 stl
S. Johnson: 10 pts, 2 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls
T. Stewart: 10 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls
D. Hall: 8 pts, 4 rebs, 5 asts#GoCougs

— Keegan Brown (@Keegs32) August 22, 2023

“He’s become a positive force on this team that just kind of gets tougher and tougher through adversity,” said Pope. “That’s been a huge jump for him.”

Three other BYU players scored in double-figures during the 11-point win. Senior guard/forward Spencer Johnson scored 10, reserve guard Trey Stewart chipped in 10 off the bench, then Trevin Knell knocked down 50% of his three-point attempts to finish with 15 points.

Knell missed all of last season due to shoulder surgery. He dealt with the injury two seasons ago, so this is his first year back to full strength since the COVID year in 2020-21 when BYU reached the NCAA Tournament as a six-seed.

Transfer Newcomer DNPs

Notable DNPs from BYU’s box score include newcomers Aly Khalifa and Dawson Baker. Khalifa is still navigating the minor tweak to his knee that he suffered in practice at the BYU Annex on August 10. Baker, a former sharpshooter from UC Irvine, has yet to play during BYU’s foreign tour.

The next game during BYU’s foreign tour is a matchup against KK Zadar in Croatia on Wednesday at 11 a.m. (MT).

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on Twitter/X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.

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