No. 14 BYU Closes 2023 With Blowout Win Over Wyoming
Dec 30, 2023, 5:57 PM | Updated: Jan 2, 2024, 2:03 pm
PROVO, Utah – In front of a sold-out crowd at the Marriott Center, No. 14 BYU cruised to another blowout victory against Wyoming to close out the 2023 calendar year.
#BYU closes out non-conference play in style with a 94-68 win over Wyoming.
Next up: Big 12 opener against Cincinnati on January 6.#BYUHoops pic.twitter.com/cxHw0SyCgE
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 31, 2023
The 94-68 victory brings BYU’s nonconference season to a close with a 12-1 record.
BYU shot 53% from the field and 44% from three, guiding them to another rout of a nonconference opponent.
Wyoming entered the game as the nation’s fourth-best three-point shooting team. They finished the afternoon game with a 35% percentage from beyond the arc.
Four BYU players finished in double-figures in scoring, with Noah Waterman and Trevin Knell leading the way with 17.
Atiki Ally Atiki had a career-high 14 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Atiki Ally Atiki finished with a career-high 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the blowout win over Wyoming.
"Triple A" is playing some of his best basketball right now, heading into Big 12 play.#BYU #BYUHoops
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 31, 2023
Next up for BYU is their Big 12 opener next Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 8 p.m.
Free Throw discrepancy highlights First Half
15:52 – Aly Khalifa isn’t letting the status of being the nation’s best at assist/turnover ratio go to his head. The 6-foot-11 big had some of his best minutes on the offensive end, scoring six points, three rebounds, one assist, and, most importantly, zero turnovers. BYU 9, Wyoming 7.
12:25 – Another strong showing from Atiki Ally Atiki off the bench. Dallin Hall dished off an alley-oop to Atiki for a slam dunk. BYU 13, Wyoming 10.
6:33 – BYU has reeled off a 20-2 run over the last 8:08 of action. Eight different players have already scored for the Cougars. Wyoming is shooting 25% from three. They entered the game fourth nationally in three-point percentage. BYU 29, Wyoming 12.
3:43 – BYU is getting out in transition. They’ve scored 10 fast break points so far against the Pokes. BYU 39, Wyoming 22.
1:30 – Former BYU head coach Steve Cleveland was shown on the big screen for a good 15 seconds, and I’m not sure if anyone in the arena recognized it was a former Cougar coach.
HALF – BYU shot 50% in the first half and 39% from three on 18 attempts. Wyoming had the advantage on free throw attempts. BYU attempted only two in the first half, while the Pokes shot nine and hit seven of those attempts. BYU 44, Wyoming 33.
BYU pulls away from Wyoming in Second Half
15:20 – BYU has assisted 17 of the 23 field goal makes so far. Aly Khalifa is up to a 5/0 so far in today’s game. BYU 56, Wyoming 42.
11:50 – Khalifa is on triple-double watch with nine points, six assists, and five rebounds. Meanwhile, Noah Waterman has quietly grabbed seven rebounds to go along with 12 points. BYU is outrebounding Wyoming 34-20. BYU 64, Wyoming 45.
9:10 – Wyoming coach Jeff Linder has to call a timeout as BYU reels off a 19-3 run to build its lead up to 27. BYU 75, Wyoming 48.
6:54 – At some point, you would think that BYU has a close call with one of these teams outside of the Top 100. That hasn’t been the case this year in nonconference as BYU continues to roll with all of its second team on the floor. BYU 80, Wyoming 50.
3:49 – Trevin Knell shooting 70% from the field for a team-high 17 points at the final media timeout. BYU 88, Wyoming 60.
3:04 – Whoa. A rare turnover from Aly Khalifa at the 3:40 mark. His first of the game and only his third of the season. Moments later, Khalifa had a seat for the remainder of the game. He finished with 9 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. BYU 90, Wyoming 62.
END – BYU defeats Wyoming, 94-68 to close out nonconference play.
Pregame
BYU starter Fousseyni Traore remains out with a hamstring injury that he suffered against NC State on Black Friday last month. Traore participated in the first half of practices on Wednesday and Thursday, his first action on the floor since suffering the injury.
BYU was without Marcus Adams Jr. against the Pokes. The true freshman who made his debut last week against Bellarmine didn’t participate in practice earlier this week.
Coming out of last week’s win over Bellarmine, Mark Pope wanted Christmas prayers to heal the foot of UC Irvine transfer Dawson Baker. Baker participated in warmups before the Wyoming game.
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.
