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BYU's Richie Saunders, left, goes up for a shot against UCF in a second round Big 12 Tournament game at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Aly Khalifa, 50, places a BYU name card on the Big 12 Tournament bracket after the Cougars defeated UCF 87-73 in a second round game at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Fousseyni Traore, right, blocks a UCF shot attempt during a second round Big 12 Tournament game at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Dallin Hall drives to the basket against UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Players on the BYU bench react to action on the court during a second round Big 12 Tournament game against UCF at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball head coach Mark Pope, left and players Richie Saunders (center) and Fousseyni Traore answer questions after an 87-73 victory against UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU men's basketball coach Mark Pope, left, celebrates an 87-73 victory against UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Following the usual script, the BYU men’s basketball team got out to a big lead against UCF in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday.

Of course, the often spectacularly athletic and physical Knights found a way to battle back into the game (just like they did in the first two meetings), riding the hot hand of Darius Johnson to trim what was once an 18-point lead to just three with nearly 14 minutes left to play.

The Cougars responded with a 12-0 run that was fueled mostly by defense to regain control on their way to an 87-73 victory at T-Mobile Arena.

“Particularly in this game they just kept beating us to the middle downhill,” said BYU senior guard Spencer Johnson, who drew an offensive foul from the other Johnson during that key stretch. “Johnson was the only one who was hitting 3s. Our big focus was we needed to be in the gaps better. I felt like we did a really good job of staying together and realizing they were going to go on a run, then we were going to go on a run. It’s all about who can stay together through those runs and can we outlast the other team?”

That 12-0 blitz pushed the BYU lead out to 71-56 with just under ten minutes to play. The Cougars lead never dipped below 11 the rest of the way.

“We had to find a way to guard against a team that’s really talented at putting their heads down and getting to the rim,” BYU coach Mark Pope said. “Darius Johnson was a massive problem today making shots. He made difficult shots that were incredible. But our defense all started from the transition. You think about how they opened their game yesterday (a 77-62 victory against Oklahoma State). The first three or four possessions when you watch them on film they are just racing down the floor in transition. I feel like our guys really shored up the transition part of it and we finished with rebounds with our undersized guys, which was really important.”

BYU was wonderfully balanced with key contributors up and down the lineup. Fousseyni Traore had a double-double (14 points on 4 of 5 from the field and 10 rebounds and three blocks) and was joined in double figures by Richie Saunders (13 points, 3 of 4 from the 3-point line), Dallin Hall (13 points, four assists) and Trevin Knell (12 points). Spencer Johnson finished with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Aly Khalifa made a pair of early 3’s and added five assists.

BYU was 7 of 15 from the 3-point line in each half to finish at 47%.

Darius Johnson led UCF (17-15) with 32 points on 12 of 22 from the field, including 6 of 8 from beyond the arc.

BYU got off to a sizzling start, rolling to a 14-0 lead in the first four minutes and led 21-3 at the 14:10 mark, making 5 of 8 from the 3-point line. The Cougars then went nearly five minutes without a field goal but still maintained a double-digit lead through most of the first half.

Hall picked up his second foul and sat for the final ten minutes of the half, and the BYU offense suffered. The Knights started to earn trips to the foul line (they made 9 of 10) to close the gap.

A technical foul on the UCF bench resulted in a four-point trip for the Cougars (on four free throws) for a 47-32 lead but Darius Johnson banged in back-to-back 3-pointers to end the first half for UCF, cutting the deficit to nine (47-38) at the break.

Darius Johnson led the second half charge for the Knights, dropping in back-to-back 3-pointers with defenders in his face for a 59-56 score with 13:38 to play. The Cougars responded by making 3 of 4 from the foul line, then got baskets from Noah Waterman and Hall and a 3-pointer from Saunders. Khalifa made a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul on UCF (its second of the game) to complete the 12-0 spurt.

“Every second half the focus is we’re going to win it on the defensive end and it was no different for this game,” Saunders said.

BYU (23-9) advances to Thursday’s quarterfinals against No. 4 seed Texas Tech, which beat the Cougars 85-78 in Lubbock on Jan. 20.

Men’s College Basketball

Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals

No. 5 seed BYU (23-9) vs. No. 4 seed Texas Tech (22-9)

Thursday, 10:30 a.m. MT

T-Mobile Center in Kansas City

TV: ESPN or ESPN2

Streaming: ESPN.com

Radio: Sirius XM 143/BYU Radio.org/BYU Radio app/KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM

Live stats: byucougars.com

The Word: Texas Tech won the only meeting between the two teams on Jan. 20 in Lubbock, recovering from a 17-point first half deficit for an 85-78 victory. … Pop Isaacs scored 32 points for the Red Raiders, 23 in the second half. … Aly Khalifa scored a season-high 21 points for the Cougars. … BYU has won at least one conference tournament game in four consecutive seasons.

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