BYU Basketball Questions Answered In Blowout Win Against San Francisco
Feb 25, 2023, 10:36 PM
Fousseyni Traore in the postgame handshake line (Courtesy of BYU Photo)
(Courtesy of BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – The BYU basketball team blew out San Francisco in the final home game of the season winning 87-61.
Let’s answer some questions from the final home game as a member of the West Coast Conference.
Who was the MVP for BYU basketball?
I don’t think this year was exactly what Rudi Williams had in mind when he committed to BYU last off-season, but his final regular season game with the Cougars was a great one.
He’s my choice for tonight’s most valuable player.
Williams started the game in place of Dallin Hall as one of the two senior players recognized on senior night.
The other senior was Gideon George.
1️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ D1 CAREER POINTS! pic.twitter.com/M7J9mVM9F0
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 26, 2023
Williams was instrumental in setting the tone early for BYU.
He finished with 21 points and a team-high seven assists.
Most of his points came from the free-throw line where he made 15 of 16 attempts.
The Cougars led for 18 minutes and two seconds in the first half and never trailed in the second half.
What was something that caught my attention during the game?
Jaxson Robinson played one of his best games of the season defensively.
I thought it was a brilliant move by head coach Mark Pope to use his length to frustrate San Francisco guard Khalil Shabazz.
Early in the second half Robinson snuck up on Shabazz and picked his pocket.
The result was a two-handed slam dunk on the other end.
Robinson had all three of the Cougar steals.
#BYU 🏀 opens up a game high lead of 19 points early on the second half after a two hand slam by Jaxson Robinson after a steal.
Cougars defense is cookin’ tonight.
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) February 26, 2023
He helped BYU hold Shabazz to 26 percent shooting from the field.
What was the most interesting stat from the game?
BYU dominated the glass against San Francisco winning the battle of the boards 42-22.
When BYU went on a seven-game winning streak in December they did it by out-rebounding their opponents.
Fousseyni Traore was a monster against the Dons posting a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
When this team rebounds and defends as they did against San Francisco they are capable of beating anyone in the WCC.
When was the game won for BYU basketball?
BYU had a lead of 23 points at one point in the second half before San Francisco trimmed the lead down to 13 points with plenty of time left.
Things got a little weird after that as both teams started firing up three-point shots.
Noah Waterman made one from the corner followed by a right-wing triple from Richie Saunders that banked in off the glass.
That made shot pushed the Cougar’s lead back to 16 points.
They never felt threatened again.
#BYU 🏀 blows out San Francisco 87-61.
Rudi Williams led the way for the Cougars with 21 points.
He got a standing ovation from the fans in attendance late in the second half. pic.twitter.com/0JwsDQ2TO8
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 26, 2023
Momentum remained with BYU and the Cougars locked up the fifth seed in the WCC tournament thanks to a NET ranking tiebreaker over San Francisco and Pacific.
You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter here.
