BYU catches fire in second half, blows by Cincinnati

Richie Saunders scored 21 points to lead BYU to an impressive 80-52 victory over Cincinnati in Provo, Utah, on Saturday night.

Egor Demin added 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds as the hot-shooting Cougars (13-6, 4-4 Big 12) won for the third time in four games.

BYU shot a stunning 73.9 percent from the field in the second half to turn a five-point halftime lead into a blowout win while improving to 10-1 at home on the season.

Simas Lukosius supplied 14 points, but he was the only Cincinnati player to score in double figures as the Bearcats (12-7, 2-6) lost a second straight game.

The Cougars, who shot 57.1 percent overall for the game, tied a season high with 15 3-pointers, a performance headlined by Saunders' 5-for-7 showing from deep. Demin and fellow freshman Kanon Catchings hit three threes apiece.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, struggled to connect on its shots, hitting just 37.7 percent of its attempts from the floor and 5 of 28 of its tries from beyond the arc.

Demin opened the second half the same way he ended the first -- by hitting a rare 3-pointer. After a Lukosius 3, BYU continued to sizzle, as Saunders hit two treys during a 7-0 run for a 38-26 lead.

The Cougars followed the next Lukosius bucket with another 7-0 spurt to go up by 17.

While BYU hit nine of its first 11 3-point attempts after halftime, the Bearcats did the opposite by making only 2 of 11 shots from deep to begin the second half.

The teams went back and forth for much of the first half, with BYU seizing a 28-23 halftime lead after Demin hit two free throws and a 3-pointer in the final minute of the opening period. The Cougars held the lead despite shooting 11-for-26 from the floor in the first half.

Dawson Baker contributed 11 points off the bench for BYU in the game.

The Cougars outscored the Bearcats 52-29 in the second half.

--Field Level Media