No. 17 BYU Hits Century Mark In Rout Of Bellarmine
Dec 22, 2023, 8:56 PM | Updated: Dec 23, 2023, 3:00 pm
PROVO, Utah – No. 17 BYU basketball heads into the Christmas break with another blowout victory.
BYU defeated Bellarmine on Friday night 101-59.
Final: No. 17 #BYU 101, Bellarmine 59.
Cougars hit 41% from three (16-39) and scored 28 points off 13 Bellarmine turnovers.
11-1 heading into the Christmas break.#BYUHoops
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 23, 2023
The Cougars outscored the Knights 59-31 in the second half and knocked down 41% of their threes for another blowout victory.
BYU improves to 11-1 on the year with one game remaining in nonconference play.
Slow start in the first half for BYU
14:33 – Another slow start for BYU. Slow starts are becoming a trend as of late for this BYU team. Trevin Knell was called for two fouls in the first two minutes, forcing Mark Pope to have Dawson Baker step into action early in the game. Bellarmine 10, BYU 8.
11:59 – Good minutes from Atiki Ally Atiki off the bench. Triple-A is in his third year in the program and it feels like he is becoming a consistent contributor on a nightly basis since becoming the second-team five when Fousseyni Traore went out with an injury. BYU 16, Bellarmine 12.
10:18 – Ally Atiki picked up his second foul, forcing BYU to insert Aly Khalifa back into the game. Bellarmine’s Landin Hacker, on the previous possession, buried a three near BYU’s midcourt logo. BYU 21, Bellarmine 15
7:19 – Dawson Baker showing the home fans why getting him back from an injury before Big 12 play is a big deal for this BYU team. Baker, in consecutive possessions, buried a three, then had a behind-the-back assist to Noah Waterman for another three. BYU 32, Bellarmine 21.
3:29 – BYU isn’t the same team without Jaxson Robinson. Cougars missed their last seven field goal attempts and had four turnovers in the last 4:27 of action. Bellarmine is knocking down 50% of its three-point attempts. BYU 33, Bellarmine 26.
ummm …. wow 🤯
📺: https://t.co/398qRXzHve pic.twitter.com/3UPBKshC4v
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) December 23, 2023
HALFTIME – One of the plays of the season took place off a steal by Dawson Baker. Baker showed incredible ball-handling skills in traffic to maintain possession and push it up the court. He found Spencer Johnson, who then lobbed it up to Atiki Ally Atiki for a slam dunk. BYU closed out the half on a 6-0 run. BYU 42, Bellarmine 28.
BYU ran away from Bellarmine in the second half
15:54 – Bellarmine won’t let BYU pull away completely. The Knights hit both of their three-point attempts. BYU 55, Bellarmine 40.
11:53 – Trevin Knell caught fire, knocking down a pair of threes. One of which resulted in a four-point play after being fouled on a corner three.
This #BYU fan won a car from Ken Garff during a timeout for knocking down three 3-pointers. 🚗 🏀 #BYUHoops pic.twitter.com/wp1weQDpYP
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 23, 2023
The hot shooting carried over to BYU fans. During the timeout, a Cougar fan buried three 3-pointers to take home a car from Ken Garff. BYU 70, Bellarmine 46.
7:57 – Dawson Baker reaches double figures for scoring in only his second game as a BYU Cougar. Baker, with a spin move the dribble to get to the rim for the bucket.
BYU is capitalizing on Bellarmine’s mistakes. The Knights have committed 11 turnovers and BYU has scored 23 points off of those miscues from Bellarmine. BYU 74, Bellarmine 51.
7:48 – Marcus Adams Jr. checks into the game after Atiki Ally Atiki committed his fourth foul. BYU fans in attendance at the Marriott Center let out a loud cheer. BYU 77, Bellarmine 51.
Marcus Adams Jr. checks into the game with 7:48 remaining in the second half for his #BYU debut.
A loud cheer from fans here in attendance. #BYUHoops
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 23, 2023
2:59 – BYU fans want Marcus Adams to knock down a bucket. Adams is hearing the fans and has put up three field goal attempts, but all of them have bounced off the rim.
BYU has pulled away from the Knights, which is something that will benefit the Cougars in the predictive ratings once again. BYU 91, Bellarmine 55.
#BYU talks a lot about not letting down "the standard" on defense.
Trey Stewart showed that at the end of the game. Blocks a three-point shot and leads a fast break opportunity to get BYU over the century mark.#BYUHoops
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 23, 2023
Final: Trey Stewart discussed earlier this week how BYU doesn’t want to let down “the standard” they have on defense, regardless of the circumstances in a game.
With less than a minute left, Stewart blocked a three-point attempt that led to fastbreak points that resulted in BYU hitting the century mark.
Marcus Adams hit his first points as a BYU Cougar with 2:16 remaining in the half. He finished the night playing eight minutes, scoring two points off 1-of-6 shooting from the field.
BYU defeats Bellarmine 101-59.
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 X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
