BYU overcame an awful first half with a three-point barrage in the second half to beat Delaware 85-68 Tuesday night in Provo.
Delaware jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed as they took a 37-34 in the first half. The Blue Hens slowed the game, went into a zone defense, and BYU was lackadaisical on both ends of the floor. BYU shot just 1-12 from three in the first half as Delaware packed the paint and forced BYU to shoot it from the outside. BYU was able to speed the game up in the second half and shot 11-20
from distance in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Richie Saunders and Rob Wright each scored 26 points for BYU, as Richie added 10 rebounds and Wright nearly went for a triple double with 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Saunders hit six threes in the second half and Rob Wright got the paint at well throughout the game. AJ Dybantsa rounded out BYU’s big three with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Keba Keita scored 8 points, Mihailo Boskovic had 4, and Dawson Baker rounded out the scorers with three points. Kennard Davis did not play as BYU opted to sit him as he was dealing with some achillies soreness.
BYU played a lousy game and will need to play lightyears better on defense if they want to upset UConn. The good news is that BYU should be much more locked in to play a top 3 team, and BYU will need focus and intensity we’ve seen other times early on this season. The Huskies are 3-0 on the season and have blown all three cupcake opponents they’ve seen. The game tips off at 7pm ET on FOX in Boston.
