6 Cougars in double figures as No. 17 BYU overwhelms Bellarmine to move to 11-1

PROVO — With BYU's leading scorer Jaxson Robinson recovering from an ankle injury on the bench, the Cougars let a few more players cook Friday night against Bellarmine.

Or bake, as it were.

UC Irvine transfer Dawson Baker scored in double figures for the first time in his BYU career with 10 points and three assists, and Noah Waterman poured in 15 pointes to lead six double-figure scorers as the No. 17 Cougars overwhelmed the Knights 101-59 in front of an announced crowd of 14,429 Friday night at the Marriott Center.

Spencer Johnson had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists; Trevin Knell added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting; and Atiki Ally Atiki tied a career high with 12 points for the Cougars (11-1).

Richie Saunders added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for BYU, which connected on a season-best 16-of-39 3-pointers and scored 28 points off 13 turnovers.

"We have a lot of guys who want to play together," BYU coach Mark Pope said. "It sure feels like they love playing with each other. It feels like the next guy up. … We're playing a lot of guys, which is fun, but the way these guys are playing with 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 guys who got up four or more threes, it's just fun. There's no hesitation to make plays for each other, because they're still making plays for each other."

With Robinson and power forward Fousseyni Traore (hamstring) still nursing injuries, the Cougars put on a showcase of substitutes; and new starting center Aly Khalifa added 9 points, four rebounds and four assists, bringing his assists-to-turnover ratio to what will be a nation-leading 34-to-2 when the NCAA's national database updates Sunday morning.

"Our depth is important," Pope said, "but we still haven't played a game with a healthy roster. I would like to do that at some point. But in spite of all that, we've had a really impressive two-month run."

Garrett Tipton had 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers to lead Bellarmine (4-6) in their third straight loss.

After a sluggish start (including a 4-0 deficit), Baker came off the bench and capped a 16-2 run with a 3-pointer that lifted the Cougars to a 21-12 lead midway through the first half.

Baker finished with 8 points and two assists in the first half, and Johnson added 6 points, six rebounds and five dimes — including a lob to Ally Atiki as BYU closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 42-28 lead.

The Cougars shot 21 3-pointers before the break, made seven of them, and scored 14 points off Bellarmine's seven turnovers while holding the Knights to 37% shooting in the first half.

"The thing I love about this team is when we don't make shots, we keep shooting," said Baker, who is still dealing with a foot injury. "I felt like that during this game. We shoot out way out of it, but it was a great team win, fun to get out there with some extended minutes, and have an impact on the game."

Knell, who played just three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored 10 of the Cougars' first 16 points of the second half, and BYU jumped out to a 61-42 advantage on Saunders' triple five minutes in.

Bellarmine shot 7-of-8 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, to open the second half, but the Knights trailed by as much as 24 midway through the half as BYU forced double-digit turnovers and scored 23 points off them.

Marcus Adams Jr., the four-star freshman who initially signed with Kansas and Gonzga, made his BYU debut as the Cougars used a 14-2 run to go up 84-51 with 6:01 remaining and put the game away for good.

Adams finished with 2 points, two rebounds and an assist in six minutes.

"This team's special; this team's different," Knell said. "When it's time to go, it's time to go. We love to keep the standard, the standard. This team was really disciplined … but I feel like our guys were ready to go."

BYU wraps up nonconference play Dec. 30 against Wyoming. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MST.

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