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BYU's Dallin Hall (30) drives to the basket against No. 17 San Diego State in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball coach Mark Pope and his team celebrate a 74-65 victory against No. 17 San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball coach Mark Pope celebrates a 74-65 win against No. 17 San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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The BYU student section cheers during a men's college basketball game against San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore (45) fights for a rebound against San Diego State in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Trevin Knell celebrates a win against San Diego State in the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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The BYU student section reacts to a basket in a game between the Cougars and San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Dallin Hall dribbles against San Diego State in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Richie Saunders dunks the ball during a men's college basketball game against San Diego State in the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Jaxson Robinson, right, dribbles against San Diego State in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Richie Saunders sails in for a layup against San Diego State in the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Dallin Hall, (center), fights for the ball against San Diego State in a men's college basketball game at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Dallin Hall goes up for a shot during a men's college basketball game against San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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BYU's Trey Stewart dribbles the ball in a men's college basketball game against San Diego State at the Marriott Center on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

❮ ❯

Recovering from a knee injury suffered during preseason workouts, BYU sophomore point guard Dallin Hall didn’t play in the Cougars’ exhibition game against Life Pacific and logged only 14 minutes in Monday’s opening win against Houston Christian.

Hall was dynamic in 25 minutes against No. 17 San Diego State on Friday, scoring 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half in a 74-65 upset victory in front of 15,689 fans at the Marriott Center.

“If you’d have asked me before the game if we’d get 25 minutes out of him, I would have said, ‘I don’t know, that might be a stretch,'” BYU coach Mark Pope said. “He put a ton of work in the bank and we’re supremely confident in him. He’s a really special player. He was a really special player last year as a freshman and that’s hard to do, and he’s worked hard to grow that.”

Hall was 4 of 8 from the 3-point line and also contributed three assists, two rebounds and steal. His backbreaker was a step-back triple with 2:34 to go, a shot that gave BYU a 66-57 lead and the Cougars made 7 of 8 from the line in the final two minutes to secure the upset.

A pretty productive 25 minutes.

“A lot of people have been counting us out from the start of the year but that’s never phased us,” Hall said. “It’s what’s in our locker room and what’s said there and what they believe in there is all we care about.”

Jaxson Robinson scored all 12 of his points in the first half and Fousseyni Traore contributed 12 points and eight rebounds. Richie Saunders came off the bench to score 12 points as well and Spencer Johnson had 10.

The Cougars outrebounded the Aztecs 42-32, including 12 offensive rebounds. BYU also held a 17-8 advantage in fast-break points.

Jaedon LaDee led San Diego State (1-1) with 21 points and seven rebounds and Reece Waters added 15 points.

The Aztecs were 32-7 last season and advanced all the way to the NCAA championship game, where they lost to UConn, so the victory by the Cougars is a significant one.

“This was a big time game tonight,” Hall said. “It was a fist fight from the beginning. We knew what it was going to be. San Diego State is a well coached team and they play hard. Our coaches prepared us for such a game. My teammates out there were physical and executed our game plan. Everyone had a moment where they stepped up and there was a lot of unseen work on the defensive end. This is a big win for us and just the beginning of our road.”

BYU led by as many as nine points in the first half, jumping up 29-20 on a transition 3-pointer by Trey Stewart with 2:52 to play before halftime. San Diego State pulled to within three, 31-28, on a basket by Lamont Turner with 1:09 remaining and the Cougars settled for a 33-28 halftime lead on a late Traore putback.

The start of the second half was rough for BYU offensively, struggling to get around and through the Aztecs pressure. San Diego State surged to a four-point lead, 46-44, on a dunk by Walters with 12:13 left to play.

The Cougars took back the lead at 51-50 on a Hall 3-pointer with 8:07 remaining and never trailed again.

BYU (2-0) will be back in action at the Marriott Center next Wednesday against Southeastern Louisiana.

“At the beginning of the year we believed we could accomplish some really great things,” Hall said. “Dwayne Wade (on a visit to a BYU practice a few weeks ago) said to celebrate moments. So we’re going to celebrate tonight as a team but then we’re going to come in tomorrow and lock in for next game. We’re going to treat them as an even greater opponent than San Diego State because this is just the beginning of what we want to do.”

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