Hall's 4 3-pointers help BYU stun No. 17 San Diego State 74-65

PROVO — Dallin Hall didn't start Friday night's BYU basketball game hosting No. 17 San Diego State.

But the sophomore sure knew how to finish.

The former Fremont High star dropped in 18 points, including a career-best four 3-pointers, to lift the Cougars to a stunning 74-65 upset over No. 17 San Diego State in front of a capacity crowd at the Marriott Center.

Picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the Big 12, BYU (2-0) showed it just might belong in the toughest college basketball conference in the country after a blowout win over Houston Christian and a gritty victory against a physical Aztecs presence that may rival most in the Cougars' new conference.

Hall scored all but 2 points in the second half, including a triple with 2:34 remaining that pushed BYU's lead to 66-57 and sent the standing room-only student section into a frenzy.

"I think a big part of it was the attention that my teammates drew," said Hall, whose team shot 42.6% from the field and 10-of-27 from 3-point range. "I was getting good looks from beyond the arc, because everybody can shoot it. Guys can really pass it, they were finding me, and then I just trusted in the work that the coaches have done with me all summer ... and I knew my teammates kept trusting in me to keep taking those shots."

Hall was supposed to be limited as he made a return from a season-opening injury. But when the ball tipped, the sophomore was ready to go — even if his head coach admitted he was a bit nervous.

"If you had asked me before the game if I was going to be able to get 25 minutes out of him, I would have said, 'I don't know.' That would've been a stretch," Pope said. "But Dallin is one of the most diligent workers that we have had in this gym.

"I was walking out of the office the other night, and Dallin was in the weight room getting extra work done. He's put a ton of work in the tank, and I think we were supremely confident in him. This is who he is; he's a really special player. He was a special player last year as a freshman, which is really hard to do. And he's worked hard to grow and will continue to be a great player."

Fousseyni Traore added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists; Jaxson Robinson had 12 points and four boards; and Spencer Johnson supplied 10 points with seven rebounds for BYU.

Jaedon LeDee led San Diego State with 21 points and seven rebounds, and USC transfer Reese Waters added 15 points for the Aztecs (1-1).

Down to eight scholarship players at one point of the game, including a pair of true freshmen, San Diego State was a shell of its former self; but still a shell that went to last year's national championship game and returned Lamont Butler and a handful of other role players en route to a top-20 ranking in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25.

Butler finished with just 9 points on 3-of-11 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers and three assists in 32 minutes.

The Cougars, meanwhile, were 2.5-point favorites, an advantage that likely stemmed from BYU's 50-27 all-time lead in the series that traversed the Mountain West Conference before being reigniting four years ago in a series of home-and-homes (that ends this season). That includes the Cougars' overwhelming 30-4 advantage in Provo, but just 2-2 record under Pope.

So technically, it wasn't an upset except by preseason rankings. Or maybe Vegas just knew something nobody else did.

"It was a fist fight from the beginning; we knew what it was going to be," Hall said. "San Diego State is a very well-coached team, they play hard, and our coaches prepared us for such a game. My teammates out there were physical, we executed our game plan, and a couple of guys just showed up to play.

"Everyone had a moment, but Fouss was huge for us. He was super physical, and did a lot of unseen work on the defensive end. Richie (Saunders) hit some big free throws, Jax and Noah — you can go down the list. ... This was a big win for us. But it's just the beginning of our road."

BYU hung around in the first half, then used a 12-2 run sparked by three-straight buckets from Robinson to take a 31-22 advantage with 2:40 left in the half.

BYU shot just 37% in the first half, but Robinson scored 12 and the Cougars drained five 3-pointers while outrebounding the Aztecs 21-17 en route to a 33-28 halftime lead.

BYU led by as much as 7 points with 5:30 remaining after Hall hit a career high-tying third 3-pointer, and Trevin Knell added another to give the Cougars a 57-50 advantage.

After back-to-back jumpers by Parrish, Hall capped a 6-0 run with a jumper in the paint to stretch BYU's lead to 63-55 that it took into the final three minutes.

BYU is back home Wednesday to host Southeastern Louisiana, part of a four-game homestand to open the 2023-24 season.

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