Slay UCF cougars for 81-75 quad 1 Victory – Deseret News

Make these four consecutive victories for basketball byu.

The cougars survived a strong team from the UCF 81-75 Saturday afternoon in Orlando, winning their second quad 1 victory of the season as a major boost for their RCAA Tournament CV.

3 take -out dishes

Mawot Mag was brilliant. In a competition, Egor Demin, Dallin Hall and Kanon Catchings combined for only four points in total, Byu had desperately needed an explosive effort elsewhere in order to stay with the knights.

Enter Mawot Mag.

The fifth senior year, mainly known for its defense, broke out for a record of 19 points of the season, reaching three points of 3 points and distributing five assists.

When the cougars needed a bucket, Mag always seemed to pass. Its calm on the field has proven to be particularly precious given the hostile road environment which disturbed some of its teammates.

While also playing a solid defense, one of Mag’s most critical contributions came in the form of three faults on the star of the UCF Keyshawn Hall in the first half.

The rapid problem of offense led Hall to play seven minutes before half-time, and considering that his 18-point second half overflow, Mag helping to keep him out of the ground earlier can have made the winning difference for Byu .

The cougars lived by the 3-point. Byu went 14 out of 32 (43.8%) long -distance, Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders teaming up to drain 10 of these shots.

The 3 -point attack helped to compensate for the 17 reversals of the season for cougars, which ended up reaching an average of 1.08 points per possession while accumulating 22 assists.

In addition, Byu scored 28 points of painting, a 37.1% shot UCF from the field and won the rebound battle with a margin of 40-34.

Praise should also be granted to Keba Keita, who crowned a performance of 10 points and seven rebounds with a pair of monster blocks in the last 20 seconds of the game to put out any remaining chance of the knights.

Byu has saved his season. Barely two weeks ago, cougars stumbled in overtime to hate his rival Utah, falling 2-4 in game Big 12 and feeling as if a trip to the NCAA tournament would escape Kevin Young during his first campaign to provo.

Not so fast.

Few teams in the country are currently warmer than byu, because she has won four consecutive competitions to resume the right side of the tournament bubble.

The cougars finally turned out to be able to win on the road against Colorado and UCF. Back home, they triumphed from Cincinnati and exorcised their demons at the end of the match with a prolongation victory against Baylor.

Given the staff of first -year coaches of Byu and so many new faces on the list, he was always going to take some time for this team to frightened and reached its full potential.

It seems that such a time has arrived, because the cougars shoot all the cylinders on a track to finish in the upper half of the conference. Battles against people like Arizona, Kansas and Iowa State are still in front, but if Byu continues to trend in this current direction, cougars could be one of the most dangerous units of Big 12 in March.