Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — BYU's 77-year streak without a loss at West Virginia continued Saturday afternoon.
Fousseyni Traore posted a season-high 24 points, nine rebounds and three assists in his return to the starting lineup, and Dallin Hall added 8 points, five rebounds and a career-best 12 assists as No. 22 BYU held off West Virginia 86-73 at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Richie Saunders added 17 points and four rebounds for BYU, Spencer Johnson supplied 15 points with four boards, and Jaxson Robinson scored 12 for the Cougars (16-5, 4-4 Big 12).
Kerr Kriisa poured in 23 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead West Virginia, and Syracuse transfer Jesse Edwards supplied 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists for the Mountaineers (8-14, 3-6 Big 12), who lost at home for the first time since Jan. 9 against Kansas State.
But the Cougars scored 38 points in the paint and scored 19 points on nine offensive rebounds as Traore posted his best game of the season in his first start since Nov. 24 against North Carolina State as Aly Khalifa did not make the trip due to injury.
"That changed a lot of things. Aly is a big part of the team, especially his passing," said Traore, who played 31 minutes with three fouls, one turnover and two blocked shots while shooting 10-of-15 from the field to finish 1 point shy of a career high. "But we just had to be smart; there were only two of us, and we couldn't get in foul trouble. Just help the team to win."
Fouss said NOPE❌
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 3, 2024
📺: https://t.co/JGL9bCNqoEpic.twitter.com/uDlbWJnAUE
But to quote Khalifa, who posted immediately after the game on X, formerly Twitter: "Fouss is different."
Different, indeed.
In the first meeting between the two now-conference foes since 1947, Edwards connected on four of his first five shots, and Rae'Quan Battle — who finished with 14 points — tied the game at 25-25 on a deep 3-pointer with 6:28 left in the first half.
But Saunders tied his career-high with three 3-pointers en route to 11 points before the break, and Traore added 12 points and six rebounds to lift the Cougars to the 38-29 halftime advantage.
Johnson scored 7 points in the first six minutes as BYU stretched its lead to 14 on 3-of-6 3-point shooting to open the second half.
But the Mountaineers, who recently strung together wins over Kansas, Texas and Cincinnati, didn't go away. Not in the WVU Coliseum, on the roads that John Denver famously crowed back in 1971.
Kriisa scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 10:15 on the clock to pull within 60-53.
Dallin put a little pizzazz on that assist😮💨
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 4, 2024
📺: https://t.co/JGL9bCNqoEpic.twitter.com/ypdbE9yNKt
But the bank was open for Saunders and Robinson, who shot a combined 8-of-15 from 3-point range to help the Cougars pull away for good and improve to .500 in Big 12 play for the first time.
"Every night has been a battle; it's never an easy game," Traore told the ESPN+ broadcast. "Every single game in the Big 12 is a dogfight. We're just happy we're in that competition, and we're ready to fight anybody."
The Cougars continue their two-game road trip Tuesday night at No. 23 Oklahoma. Tipoff from the Lloyd Noble Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST on ESPN+.
