Richie Saunders Secures Second Big 12 Player Of The Week In A Row
Mar 3, 2025, 4:53 PM
BYU Cougars forward Richie Saunders (15) celebrates his basket against the Arizona Wildcats during an NCAA men’s basketball game held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
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PROVO, Utah- After a slow start in Big 12 play, Richie Saunders and the BYU Cougars have started playing their best basketball right at the best time of the year. The Cougs will have to opportunity to close out the regular season with only No. 10 Iowa State and Utah left on their schedule.
During the active six-game win streak, BYU has beaten some of the premiere teams in the Big 12, including a blowout win over Kansas and a high-scoring victory over Arizona on the road, and Richie Saunders has been the engine.
With another dominant offensive showing against Arizona State paired with an efficient contribution against West Virginia, Richie Saunders has earned the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second week in a row.
HE DID IT AGAIN👊 pic.twitter.com/AcEyIAjZsh
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 3, 2025
Richie Saunders vs Arizona State
After an exciting win in one of college basketball’s games of the year against the Wildcats, the freshly ranked BYU Cougars stayed in Arizona, heading north to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils.
It was another high-scoring affair in which the Cougars came out on top 91-81. Richie Saunders went off, scoring 20 or more points for the third game in a row. He finished with 26 points and was 6-11 from three-point range in a game where the Cougars were letting it fly from deep with 17 made three-pointers as a ream.
Saunders also crashed the glass, pulling down six rebounds, and showed his defensive prowess with two steals, each leading to a basket.
Richie in his bag 💰
Richie Saunders Highlights vs. Arizona State🎥👀#Big12MBB | @BYUMBB pic.twitter.com/qmal3Flhkk
— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) February 27, 2025
Richie Saunders vs West Virginia
After the trip to the Grand Canyon State, the Cougars came home to take on West Virginia with a chance to sweep the Mountaineers in the season series.
After two 90+ point performances in a row from BYU in which they also allowed a high-scoring total from their opponents, the tone was very different against West Virginia. The Cougars beat the Mountaineers 77-56, holding the visitors to only 33.3% from the field in one of their lowest-scoring performances of the season.
With fewer points overall on the board, there were also fewer in the stat sheet for Richie Saunders, but he still went 5-9 from the field, made all three of his free throws, and was a +19 on the floor. The spacing he provides as a threat from outside also gave Fousseyni Traore the opportunity to do work down low and score his second-most points all season with 20.
Richie Saunders has been the biggest surprise of this college basketball season.
His numbers are consistent with former Big12 player of the year candidates.
If he keeps this level of play up, no one in their right mind will be excited to see BYU in their bracket. https://t.co/lw4YvVajym— Hans Olsen (@975Hans) March 3, 2025
Next For Richie Saunders And The BYU Cougars
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The BYU Cougars only have two more games remaining on their schedule before the Big 12 Tournament next week.
Their final chance to prove themselves against one of the best teams in the country will come on the road in Ames against the No. 10 Iowa State Cyclones. Tipoff is set for tomorrow, Tuesday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m. MT on ESPN 2.
Then, the regular season finale will come at home against their rivals, the Utah Utes. The Cougars will look to avenge their loss earlier this season at the Hunstman Center. The Utes and Cougars will battle on Saturday, March 8, at 8:00 p.m. MT on ESPNU.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, BYU will travel to Kansas City, Missouri for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship which will start on March 11.
