PROVO, Utah (AP) — Richie Saunders scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on Saturday night to help BYU beat Kansas State 80-65 and snap the Wildcats’ six-game win streak.
Dallin Hall scored 16 points and Fousseyni Traore 11 for BYU (17-8, 8-6 Big 12). Keba Keita added nine points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Egor Demin threw down a dunk that gave BYU the lead for good less than five minutes into the game and sparked a 17-4 run that made it 26-12 about four minutes later. The Cougars led by at least eight point the rest of the way.
CJ Jones made layup for the Wildcats with 7:43 left in the first and half and neither team scored again until Hall’s layup with 2:56 to go until halftime that gave BYU a 14-point lead.
Kansas State, which made four of its first 16 shots and at one point missed 10 consecutive field-goal attempts, shot 27% (9 of 33) in the first half.
Dug McDaniel led Kansas State (13-12, 7-7) with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Brendan Hausen added 12 points, including three 3s.
The Wildcats lost for the first time since a 70-62 loss at Baylor on Jan. 22, the last in a six-game skid.
Hall hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 22-point lead — their biggest of the game — less than four minutes into the second half. Kansas State responded with an 18-4 run to trim its deficit to 53-45. Saunders answered with a layup and BYU led by double figures for the final 10-plus minutes.
Kansas State plays Monday at Utah. BYU plays host to No. 17 Kansas on Tuesday.
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