Points were expected, and both teams delivered in a 98-82 BYU win over Queens Tuesday night in Provo. Rob Wright led BYU with 21 points, and Jaxon Kohler and Bruce Branch each chipped in 15 points. Collin Chandler had 12 points and Nate Pickens led all bench scorers with 15 points. BYU as a team shot 54% from the floor and 17-37 (47%) from three.
BYU’s offense had lulls, but generally did what they needed; the defense, however, had a less-than-stellar evening. Queens shot 14-34 from three and outrebounded
BYU 38-37 at the glass. BYU came in with big size advantage, so it was discouraging to see BYU unable to assert more physicality in the paint on both ends. Queens brought back 3 of their top players from a NCAA Tournament team last year and are a solid mid-major team. Oklahoma State rolled them by 50 points last game, and BYU was certainly hoping to be more dominant. BYU looked dialed in both prior games, so a bit of a sleepy performance isn’t too alarming.
In any case, BYU moves to 3-0 and will play Big Sky favorite Montana State Thursday night in Provo.
