16 pounds and a world away: Egor Demin in peak form at right time for No. 25 BYU hoops

PROVO — You'll scarcely find a better passer in college basketball than Egor Demin.

That's what many NBA draft analysts, scouts and executives raved — most anonymously, a few on the record — about the BYU point guard when he arrived in Provo for what most presume will be his lone season of college basketball before the 2025 NBA draft.

In that respect, the 6-foot-9 native of Moscow, Russian, hasn't disappointed. But as the 25th-ranked Cougars surge into March with a six-game winning streak, a 21-8 overall record and a chance to a top-four finish ahead of the Big 12 Tournament with a 12-6 mark and two games remaining, it has been Demin's scoring touch that has caught plenty of attention.

Demin is averaging 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game on 42% shooting for the Cougars as the calendar turns to March, including 10 assists last week in a 91-81 win at Arizona State that is the second-most in a freshman season eclipsed (so far) only by the 11 dimes he dropped in his historic home debut Nov. 5 against Central Arkansas.

But in the 18 games of conference play, his scoring touch has taken a leap forward, both from 3-point range and around the rim.

During the Cougars' current run of 10 wins in the last 12 games, Demin has scored in double figures seven times, shot 40% from the field or better seven times, and has shot a combined 11-of-15 from the free-throw line since going 0-for-3 in an 85-74 loss Feb. 4 to then-No. 20 Arizona.

Most importantly, he's been aggressive, decisive and a three-level scorer — while also sparking the offense with his wizardly passes, whipping a total of 36 dimes during the current six-game winning streak.

That's all important, says head coach Kevin Young, but so is his physique.

"For one, he's put on about 16 pounds," Young said of the teenage newcomer to Provo. "He's physically stronger. I think the ability to play off two feet in the paint is something we talk a lot about, not just going off one foot but playing off more of a position of strength in the paint."

Maybe the biggest difference in his game Saturday night was emotional, Young pontificated.

"Before the game, he was a little ornery," the first-year head coach said. "If I need to piss him off before the game to get him to score like that at the basket, then we will. But I was happy with his response."

But Young said after the Cougars' 77-56 win over West Virginia that "we have different ways we can score. We're not a one-trick pony."

Against the Mountaineers, Demin was a key spark, in addition to the leading scorer Richie Saunders and double-double threat Fousseyni Traore. The Russian international by way of Spain's Real Madrid system finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists and a plus-18 in 24 minutes — the second-highest plus-minus on the team to only Traore's plus-24.

After clinging to a 24-19 halftime lead, Demin opened the second half with a 3-pointer just 16 seconds in to pace a 10-2 run that turned a 6-point advantage into a 14-point lead to pull away for good.

If he was mad, or stubborn — "ornery," even — before the game, then it quickly went away after a 10th win in the last 12 games. But ...

"I guess that's what it takes now in these games," Demin said, after asking what "ornery" meant with a laugh. "We are getting closer to the tournament, and we've got to find that inner, and I am trying to do a better job at that.

"It is just something that I am trying to get out of myself. Sometimes we need it, and I personally need it."

There was also one other key to Saturday's game that Demin has learned, one that Young told the players at halftime and repeated by Dallin Hall after the game: When all else fails, get the ball to Traore in the paint — and get out of the way.

Demin was happy to oblige, en route to one of the best outings of the season for the 6-foot-6 senior from Bamako, Mali. It was a 20-point, 10-rebound effort that was just his second double-double of the season before a pivotal game Tuesday at No. 9 Iowa State (7 p.m. MST, ESPN2).

"It's nice, especially with those guys," Traore said. "Dallin always finds me, and Egor is Egor; we all know how he can pass it. I can't do any of it myself. I have good guys around me, and we just help each other."

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