BYU Basketball Pulls Out Gutsy Win Over NC State. The No. 23 BYU Cougars pulled out a gutsy 95-86 win over the NC State Wolfpack on Friday night in the championship game of the Vegas Showdown.
The Cougars were without two of their big men, Atiki Ally Atiki and Fousseyni Traore, who were both out due to suspension and injury, respectively. But BYU got a career-high 23 points from Jaxson Robinson to overcome the adversity and hand NC State its first loss of the season.
Robinson came up big in the second half, scoring 15 of his 23 points. He also had a critical sequence in which he assisted Dallin Hall on a three-pointer before scoring five consecutive points to extend BYU’s lead.
“Jaxson was huge for us tonight,” said BYU head coach Mark Pope. “He stepped up when we needed him most and made some big plays.”
BYU also got a big contribution from Noah Waterman, who had 15 points and five rebounds. Dallin Hall and Trevin Knell each added 13 points, and Spencer Johnson chipped in with 11 points.
The Cougars were able to overcome a slow start in the first half, falling behind by as many as 10 points. But BYU rallied in the second half, outscoring NC State 55-42.
“We knew we were in for a tough game,” said Pope. “NC State is a good team. But we were able to make some adjustments in the second half and get some stops when we needed them.”
The Cougars improved to 6-0 on the season with the win. They will return to action on Monday night when they host Utah Valley.
Here are some of the key stats from the game:
BYU shot 52.5% from the field, including 7 of 21 from three-point range.
NC State shot 39.5% from the field, including 7 of 17 from three-point range.
BYU outrebounded NC State 37-32.
BYU had 17 turnovers, while NC State had 12 turnovers.
BYU was led by:
Jaxson Robinson: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
Noah Waterman: 15 points, 5 rebounds
Dallin Hall: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists
Trevin Knell: 13 points, 4 rebounds
Spencer Johnson: 11 points, 3 rebounds
NC State was led by:
Terquavion Smith: 23 points, 6 rebounds
Dereon Seabron: 16 points, 8 rebounds
Casey Morsell: 15 points, 4 rebounds
BYU will next play Utah Valley on Monday night at 7:00 PM MST.
