Both players scored career highs in last week’s 95-71 victory against Idaho at the Marriott Center. Traore’s line (29 points on 11 of 12 from the field and nine rebounds) showed how the Cougars can dominate single coverage in the post.

Saunders scored 26 points on 10 of 15 from the field (4 of 8 from the 3-point line). But more than just his offense, Saunders’ intensity and energy on the defensive end was overwhelming. He had three blocks and four steals, often creating his own offense.

“That’s honestly where I try to hang my hat,” Saunders said. “(Former BYU assistant) Kahil Fennell, for the first two years of my career here, he was just challenging me. The hours spent with him doing that, and now with the coaches here, and specifically, Coach John (Linehan), that was the biggest focus going into this year on this off season.”

BYU coach Kevin Young has been searching for the right combinations in his lineup but the right one almost always includes Saunders.

“He’s hard to keep off the floor,” Young said. “For me, he’s a guy that just creates his own offense, creates his own energy, creates his own defense, which turns turns into offense for us. He’s one of our most important guys. The guys look up to him because of how hard he plays.”

Saunders is BYU’s second leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, just behind freshman sensation Egor Demin at 17 points per contest. Saunders is shooting 55% from the field and 45% from the 3-point line. He’s second in steals with six and third in rebounding (6.0 per game).

Saunders is also second to Demin in minutes played, 109 to 119.

Traore, who has been coming off the bench, is averaging 13 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 73% (22 of 30) from the field.

Four players (Demin, Saunders, Traore and freshman Kanon Catchings) are all averaging in double figures with Trevin Knell (9.0), Keba Keta (8.8) and Dawson Baker (8.3) right behind them.

“The thing I like about our group so far is I think we’ve proven that it could be a different guy on any given night,” Young said. “I think really good teams have that.”

SCOUTING REPORT

There’s difficult schedules, and then there’s the one that Mississippi Valley State plays just about ever year.

The Delta Devils, which finished 1-30 last season, will play 15 of their first 17 games on the road. It’s a nice paycheck for the athletic department — third-year head coach George Ivory is also the interim athletic director — but they’ve already played at No. 5 Iowa State, Missouri, Texas and Kansas State. After BYU on Saturday, MVS plays at Utah on Tuesday.

The Delta Devils are 1-4 with its only victory against Mississippi University for Women (yes, they do have a men’s athletic program) by a score of 66-49. MVS has lost its four games by an average of 43.8 points. On Tuesday, the Delta Devils trailed Kansas State by just two, 25-23, at halftime before losing 74-56.

Ivory’s team returns a double-digit scorer from last season in 5-11 senior guard Donovan Sanders and has been bolstered by junior college transfer Arthur Tate, a 6-6 guard averaging 11 points per game.

Men’s College Basketball

Mississippi Valley State (1-4) at BYU (4-0)

Saturday, 7 p.m. MT

Marriott Center, Provo

TV/Streaming: ESPN+

Radio: BYU Radio

Live stats: byucougars.com

The Word: BYU concludes a five-game home stand with tonight’s game against Mississippi Valley State. … The Delta Devils are No. 362 (last) in the country in the NET ranking. … Mississippi Valley State will play 15 of its first 17 games away from home. … BYU is 3-0 all-time against the Delta Devils, winning the last meeting 91-61 in 2017.