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BYU's Richie Saunders goes up for a shot against Georgia State during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Dallin Hall (30) goes up for a shot against Georgia State during a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU guard Dallin Hall makes a pass around two Georgia State defenders in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU student section, the "ROC," cheers during a men's college basketball game against Georgia State at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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A bit of trivia is often more interesting than another December blowout, so let’s start there.

Going into Saturday’s game against Georgia State, No. 18 BYU boasted eight players on its roster that had scored 20 or more points in a college game.

Make than nine players.

Sophomore Richie Saunders scored a career-high 20 points against the Panthers in front of 13,819 fans at the Marriott Center in an 86-54 rout.

“We have nine guys that have proven they’re capable of putting putting two dimes down and it’s pretty great, right?” BYU coach Mark Pope said. “You talk about depth and how important it is. Depth is required if you’re going to be a high level basketball team. You think about nine guys that have scored 20 and the other guys are going to soon. We need every single one of them and that’s what’s going to help us get through this gauntlet that we’re about to start here (in the Big 12).”

More stats: BYU assisted on 23 of 32 baskets, led by Spencer Johnson (seven) and committed only four turnovers.

“This is actually not a coaching thing,” Pope said. “This is a player thing. It (turnovers) was a real Achilles heel for us last year, understandably with the youth we had on the floor. These guys, all summer long, were self monitoring and it matters to them. It’s not me saying it. It’s them talking to each other about how it matters. I know they’re really proud of themselves and they should be because that’s pretty remarkable.”

Saunders was 8 of 14 from the field and also had six rebounds, four on the offensive end. Trevin Knell bounced back from a poor shooting performance against Denver and scored 15 points, making 3 of 5 from distance. Noah Waterman was also 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and scored 13 points, Dallin Hall had 12 points (4 of 8 from the 3-point line) along with four rebounds and six assists. Spencer Johnson added eight points, four rebounds and seven assists for the Cougars, which finished 13 of 38 (39.5%) from beyond the arc.

BYU played most of the game without leading scorer Jaxson Robinson, who sprained his ankle after just seven minute of playing time and left the game. Pope said Robinson probably could have come back in but there was no need.

The game was also noteworthy as the first action for UC Irvine transfer guard Dawson Baker, who was finally healthy enough to make his BYU debut. Baker finished with six points on 3 of 5 from the field.

BYU led 14-4 in the games first six minutes, with two 3-pointers from Hall and one each from Knell and Aly Khalifa. The Cougars were up by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Panthers trimmed the deficit to five, 31-26, with 3:45 to play. BYU ended the first half on an 8-0 run, with triples from Saunders and Hall and a backdoor layup by Knell of a feed from Khalifa. The Cougars led 39-26 at the break.

A 14-2 BYU run early in the second half , with eight points from Waterman, quickly pushed the lead to 22 points, 53-31, with 15:42 remaining. The Cougars led by as many as 34 points in the second half and Saunders scored his 20th point with 42 seconds to play.

“This is a great win,” Khalifa said. “I feel like we played super hard from from the jump all the way to the end. Especially the way we started the second half, I feel like we separated ourselves from them. We took care of the ball and we didn’t have a lot of turnovers. And Dawson Baker got play today so that was just good to have him back. I feel like everybody played well.”

BYU (10-1) is off during most of Finals Week but will play Friday in the Marriott Center against Bellarmine.