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Early celebration: Career afternoon for Saunders leads BYU past Arizona State

By Darnell Dickson - | Dec 31, 2024
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BYU's Richie Saunders drives to the basket against Arizona State in a Big 12 men's basketball game in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Richie Saunders salutes the crowd after scoring 30 points in a Big 12 men's basketball victory against Arizona State in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Egor Demin soars in for a dunk in a Big 12 men's basketball game against Arizona State in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Mawot Mag (0) pours water on head coach Kevin Young while celebrating a win against Arizona State in the locker room at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Fousseyni Traore dunks the ball in a Big 12 men's basketball game against Arizona State in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Richie Saunders (15) celebrates with teammate Elijah Crawford in the locker room after a victory against Arizona State on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Richie Saunders reacts after scoring against Arizona State in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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Players on the BYU bench celebrate a 3-pointer during a Big 12 men's basketball game against Arizona State at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Richie Saunders drives to the basket against Arizona State in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Dallin Hall drives against Arizona State in a Big 12 men's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU's Fousseyni Traore blocks a shot in a Big 12 men's basketball game against Arizona State at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.
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BYU men's basketball coaches Kevin Young, left, and Chris Brugess react during a Big 12 game against Arizona State at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

Richie Saunders made the last day of 2024 a memorable one.

The 6-foot-5 junior scored a career-high 30 points on Tuesday afternoon, pushing BYU to a convincing 76-56 victory against Arizona State to open Big 12 play in front of 16,926 fans at the Marriott Center.

Saunders scored eight points in the first four minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers, and poured in 15 points in each half on 11 of 18 from the field (6 of 11 from the 3-point line).

He was a shot maker and a thorn in the Sun Devils side all game long.

Tuesday was Saunders’ first game back since an injury in the first two minutes against Wyoming on Dec.14 in the Delta Center.

“I don’t know, I just feel so grateful,” Saunders said. “After getting knocked out with the concussion and stuff, it was really hard. I was just so excited to play again. For me, this was one I’ll remember forever.”

Saunders received seven stitches (four outside his mouth, three inside) after getting head butted by the Cowboys’ Jordan Nesbitt and apparently doesn’t remember later sending some nonsense texts to teammate Dawson Baker.

“That’s a story for another time,” Saunders said with a smile after Tuesday’s game. “I was kind of hallucinating. I felt like I’d just gotten out of surgery and was on something. I don’t even remember doing that (texting Baker).”

It was the first time a BYU player had scored at least 30 points in a game since Alex Barcello did it in 2022, putting up 33 points in a win at Pepperdine. Saunders’ previous career high was 26 points against Idaho on Nov. 16.

“I love the confidence Richie plays with,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “He plays within himself and he plays within our system really well. He’s just got an edge to him. I think he’s got an uncommon edge and that’s what sets him apart.”

Kanon Catchings was the only other BYU player in double figures with 11 points. Keba Keita was a presence in the paint with nine points and 10 rebounds and Dawson Baker came off the bench for nine points and five assists. In his first game back after four weeks away due to injury, freshman Egor Demin scored four points and had seven assists but also coughed up five turnovers.

“Ball toughness was what was the game decider tonight,” Young said. “We got a nice lead and then turned it over too much on loose ball type of stuff. But our physicality shows its head in a lot of ways, not just setting screens and rebounding. Ball toughness is how hard you cut or how hard you sprint back. It’s something we harp on every day. I think we were the more physical team tonight.”

The Cougars led 11-2 early and Saunders dropped in another 3-pointer for an 18-4 Cougar lead at the 11:37 mark of the first half. Arizona State got off to a dismal shooting start, missing its first 11 3-point attempts. BYU led by 16, 26-10, on a Catchings 3-pointer with 6:38 to play but scored just five points the rest of the half. The Sun Devils outscored the Cougars 16-5 to close the half and climbed to within five, 31-26, at the break.

Arizona State finished 10 of 31 (32%) from the field and 2 of 15 (13%) from beyond the arc in the first half.

‘I challenged our guys at halftime to play with little bit more swagger,” Young said. “We’ve got a really good basketball team. We play together and we play connected. We want them to play with the necessary confidence because of that.”

BYU opened the second half on a 9-0 burst to lead 40-26, with four points inside from Keta and another Saunders triple. The Cougars advantage stretched to 18, 50-32, when Saunders took a feed from Demin for a reverse layup at the 13:31 mark.

The frustration for the Sun Devils boiled over when Amier Ali was hit with a taunting technical after a steal and a dunk and head coach Bobby Hurley also earned a T protesting the call. Baker hit 3 of 4 from the line for a 62-45 advantage for BYU.

The Cougar lead reached as many as 21, 67-46, on a Fousseyni Traore dunk with 6:48 to play. Saunders got his 30th point on his fifth 3-pointer and dished to Baker on the break with a minute to play before exiting the game.

BYU shot 61% (17 of 28) from the field in the second half. Arizona State, which came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the Big 12 (39%), was just 6 of 29 from beyond the arc (21%).

B.J. Freeman topped the Sun Devils (9-3 overall, 0-1 Big 12) with 11 points.

“I credit BYU and their aggression,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said. “I thought they were pretty physical. They did a good job mixing their defenses up. I do think we left some things on the table, especially early in the game. Against a high-caliber opponent like BYU, early in the game, you’ve got to try and get off to a good start, especially on the road. This is a very good environment and loud. We didn’t do a good job in the beginning in the first or second half. But certainly, I thought they were very good on defense. They were very aggressive on that end of the floor and they took a lot away from us today.”

BYU (10-2, 1-0) travels to No. 14 Houston on Saturday. The Red Cougars dropped Oklahoma State 60-47 in their Big 12 opener on Monday.