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BYU men’s hoops finally plays real basketball in Blue-White Game

By Darnell Dickson - | Oct 9, 2024
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BYU freshman Egor Demin (3) makes a no-look pass during the Blue-White Game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
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BYU senior Trey Stewart (1) shakes hands with freshman teammate Elijah Crawford during the Blue-White Game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
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BYU freshman Elijah Crawford sails in for a dunk during warmups at the Blue-White Game at the Marriott Center on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.

Anyone who regularly watches or attends BYU’s Blue and White Game knows what to expect.

On Wednesday at the Marriott Center, fans witnessed the usual turnovers, sloppy play and questionable shots that are inherent to a scrimmage between a group of players who have been banging their heads against each other for months.

But this year’s Cougars have a little something extra cooking in the Marriott Center Annex.

What is clear after the scrimmage is that there is a ridiculous amount of talent on this team and new coach Kevin Young is going to have to use all of his NBA-acquired knowledge to disperse minutes this year.

“We’re still very much into analyzing our group, figuring out who plays well with who,” Young said. “There was some stuff we stayed away from tonight because I’ve already seen enough in practice. I felt super confident about certain combinations and other ones I’m not as sure about. But we have something we’ll continue to evaluate a lot and to chew on from this game film.”

A larger-than-usual scrimmage crowd, including a healthy contingent of BYU students in the ROC section, took in a 20-minute first half and 12-minute second half. Young just observed from the sideline in the first half, taking notes, then coached the White squad in the second.

“I went to bed last night thinking I would coach whole time, but the more I thought about it I thought if I were to take myself away from it, I would get a different perspective,” he said. “It did allow me to see things differently.”

There were plenty of spectacular plays in the first half but the scoring belonged to the big men. Utah transfer Keba Keta led all scorers with 13 points on 6 of 7 from the field, along with six rebounds.

Returner Fousseyni Traore topped the White team with 10 points on 5 of 9 from the field and led all players with 11 rebounds in the first half.

Freshman Kanon Catchings added 11 points for the Blue and Egor Demin contributed nine points, five assists and four rebounds. Trey Stewart was 3 of 4 from the field and scored eight points.

Newcomer Mihailo Boskovic had eight points for the White team with Richie Saunders and Mawot Mag adding seven each.

The two teams combined to shoot just 11 of 39 (28%) from the 3-point line in the first half.

Demin, playing for the Blue squad, opened the night with a one-handed alley-oop pass to Keta for a dunk. Catchings scored seven quick points, including a dunk and a 3-pointer, for an 11-10 lead at the 13:29 mark.

Saunders scored back-to-back baskets for the White team and its lead was 32-29 with five minutes to go in the half. The Blue team closed on a 20-9 run. Demin assisted on Stewart 3-pointer then dunked for a 3-point play. Keta scored seven points, including a 3-point play, and had a dunk off another alley-oop from Demin for a 49-39 lead for the Blue at the half.

Young mixed up the lineups in the shortened second half and Saunders dominated, scoring 12 points and a variety of jumpers and drives. Catchings connected on a pair of 3-pointers and the White team got out to a 28-13 lead. Traore stepped out and made a pair of 3-pointers for the Blue team but Keta finished things off for the White with a vicious dunk for a final of 32-20 in the second half.

“I think that was a good insight of what trying to do,” said junior point guard Dallin Hall, who had five points, six assists and five rebounds. “I still think we have a little ways to go and that will come with playing together for the next month, learning each others tendencies and just developing that team chemistry. I think you saw a glimpse of what we’re capable of and we’re excited to keep getting better every day.”

Demin, when asked about the potential of the Cougars, said, “We are not having any limits on our team this year.”

BYU will head back to the lab again before taking on Colorado Christian in an exhibition game on Oct. 30 at the Marriott Center.