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PROVO — After scoring a season-high 15 points on five 3-pointers Saturday night against Northern Iowa, BYU wing Trevin Knell admitted on live radio that he's never been to New York City.
After dispatching Northern Iowa 90-71 in the Marriott Center, the Cougars are one game away from booking a cross-country charter flight to Madison Square Garden.
One more home game, that is.
Michael Flowers poured in 22 points and three assists, and Washington State led for all but the first 38 seconds en route to a 75-63 win over top-seeded SMU in an NIT second-round game Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
Efe Abogidi added 12 points and eight rebounds, and TJ Bamba scored 13 for the Cougars, who advanced to face BYU in Provo in a quarterfinal game Wednesday (7 p.m. MDT, ESPN2).
Kendrick Davis poured in a game-high 30 points to lead the Mustangs, who trailed by as much as 19 before rallying in the second half.
"For us right now, it's about as much joy and energy and execution as we can get. If we can be there, then we'll have a chance to keep winning," BYU coach Mark Pope said. "We're not trying to make a habit of going to the NIT. But there's something really special about our gym. Now you only have 7,000 people, but they're the die-hards who can never get down by the court.
"It's super awesome. For the people who aren't coming to the games right now, I almost feel bad for them. The gym is super special."
The Cougars didn't want to be in the NIT — what team in America does? But they're here and they might as well win a few games.
Or a few home games, at least.
"The NIT is complicated," Pope admitted. "But we don't get to choose the NCAA Tournament anymore; all we can do is choose to get better in the NIT, or to lose. You don't think that Gideon George is growing right now, and teasing us with what he is going to become in the next 12 months? That's valuable.
"It's been really meaningful to me that our best two players have been Gideon George and Caleb Lohner. That is BYU basketball's future. … These guys are showing out, and I'm so excited about what these two guys are doing right now."
One more game in front of BYU's fans, who like the players are disappointed that the team isn't playing in the NCAA Tournament but will take a few more wins? The Cougars will take it.
"Playing in front of these fans, guys shooting free throws — that dude is missing," said BYU's Gideon George, who had a career-high 27 points Saturday night. "I was pretty happy about that.
"The ROC is the sixth man of the year, for sure."
Washington State jumped out to a big lead, holding SMU to just eight first-half field goals en route to a 39-20 lead at the break. Michael Flowers had 12 points in the first half, shooting 4 of 6 from the field, including a pair of threes for the big early advantage.
Wazzu stretched its lead to a game-high 19 by the first media timeout of the second half. But Kendric Davis wouldn't let the Mustangs go away.
SMU used a 14-2 run capped by Davis' bucket with 11:36 remaining to make a game of it, trailing 50-43 ahead of the final 10 minutes while the Cougars went cold for more than four minutes midway through the second half.
The Mustangs pulled all the way to within four, 62-58, with three minutes remaining. But the Cougars hit on their next three shot attempts, including Flowers' deep triple with 1:45 left to go up 69-60 — and the Mustangs never threatened again.
The game will be a return to the Marriott Center for Washington State coach Kyle Smith, who took the job in 2019 after leading San Francisco to a 63-40 record over three seasons in the West Coast Conference.
Smith is 2-4 against BYU while leading USF.
"We're going to focus on us, and then try to go win one more game," Pope said. "I think the guys are excited to get to New York."
