Richie Saunders hits 5 3s, scores 21 as BYU beats Cincinnati 80-52

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Richie Saunders hit 5 of 6 from 3-point range and scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half on Saturday night to help BYU beat Cincinnati 80-52.

Egor Demin finished with 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds for BYU (13-6, 4-4 Big 12) and Dawson Baker added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Simas Lukosius hit a 3-pointer that cut Cincinnati’s deficit to five points less than a minute into the second half but Saunders answered with a 3 12 seconds later and added another before Trevin Knell hit from behind the arc to cap a 14-2 run that made it 45-28 and BYU led by double figures for the final 18-plus minutes.

Lukosius led Cincinnati (12-7, 2-6) with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The rest of the Bearcats players made 18 of 50 (36%) from the field.

Lukosius made a 3-pointer that tied it at 23-all with 1:04 left in the first half but Demin answered with two free throws to give BYU the lead for good before his 3-pointer made it 28-23 at halftime.

The Cougars shot 73.4% (17 of 23) from the field and hit 11 of their 15 3-pointers in the second half. BYU made 28 of 49 (57%) overall and hit 63% from behind the arc.

Cincinnati plays at Utah on Tuesday. BYU also plays Tuesday, when the Cougars play host to Baylor.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Copyright © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up