Demin and Keita send BYU past UC Riverside 86-80 | News, sports, jobs

BYU defeated the UC Riverside Highlanders 86-80 on Friday night, powered by Egor Demin’s 20 points and Keba Keita’s double-double.

“It’s good to be in a close game and try to get something out of it, play the free throw game and just do different things on both sides of the ball,” first-year head coach Kevin Young said. “UC Riverside is a good team. We knew tonight would be very different than our first game. They took Oregon all the way to the end, so it was good for our guys to be in that situation. But I’m glad we got the win.”

Demin led BYU offensively with 20 points on 8 of 11 from the field and two of five from 3-point range. The freshman point guard also contributed seven assists and five rebounds for the Cougars.

Keita recorded his first double-double in a BYU uniform and the fourth of his collegiate career as he scored 14 points on 5 of 6 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night.

Other Cougars in double figures included Fousseyni Traore with 14 points and Richie Saunders with 12. Traore and Saunders also added six rebounds and two assists each.

BYU outscored UC Riverside 53.2 to 43.1 percent, shooting 33 of 62 from the field. The Cougars also outscored the Highlanders in rebounding 39-31 and recorded 15 assists to UC Riverside’s 12.

The BYU offense dominated the field (48-14), the second chance (17-7) and the bench (27-21) to get off to a 2-0 start.

The Cougars have now won 15 straight non-conference games at the Marriott Center and Young is the first head coach to win the first two games of his tenure since Roger Reid won four straight games at the start of the 1989-90 season.

The Cougars quickly took a 6-0 lead when Keita went on the offensive early, sinking two free throws and clearing a board for an easy throw-in. The Highlanders responded with a 3-pointer from the top before BYU went on a 10-0 run, highlighted by a rebound putback from Traore and a free throw.

UC Riverside scored six straight points before the second media timeout and the Cougars led 18-12 with 11:54 left in the first half.

After the timeout, the Highlanders hit their third and fourth 3-pointers of the night to finish with 20 points each.

Demin provided offense for the Cougars by sinking a 3-ball of his own and finding Saunders in the corner for a mid-range floater. BYU entered the eight-and-under media timeout with a four-point lead, 25-21.

UC Riverside continued to have success behind the arc, sinking two more 3-pointers to bring the game back to 29 with just over four minutes left in the first frame.

The Cougars outscored the Highlanders 11-4 in the final three minutes of the half, capping it off with a drive and a dunk from Demin as time expired.

BYU led 40-33 at halftime while shooting 50 percent from the field and outscored UC Riverside 22-13.

Traore and Demin combined for 21 of the Cougar’s first half points with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Keita grabbed seven rebounds to lead BYU, and Demin had five assists and four rebounds.

Demin wasted no time scoring the first five points of the second half in just over a minute of play, finishing at the rim and connecting from deep. Kanon Catchings extended BYU’s run to 10-2 while scoring five points of his own, forcing UC Riverside to use the first timeout of the second half trailing by 15 points.

The momentum stayed with BYU as Saunders hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Dawson Baker grabbed a loose ball that ended in a Catchings dunk. BYU extended its lead to 17 points: its largest lead of the night.

UC Riverside sank a 3-pointer and a mid-range jump shot before the second media timeout to cut the Cougars’ lead to 12. BYU led 56-44 with 11:48 left in the game.

The Cougars and Highlanders traded baskets over the next five minutes before UC Riverside cut BYU’s lead to nine with a drive to the rim with 6:18 left.

Traore found Saunders on a backdoor cut for a two count, allowing the Cougars to regain a double-digit lead at 77-66 heading into the U5 media timeout.

UC Riverside went on a 6-2 run over the next two minutes, forcing BYU to call a timeout, 79-72, with 2:17 on the clock.

Baker and Mihailo Boskovic each sank two free throws in the final minute of the game to seal the 86:80 victory.

BYU next faces Queens on November 13th at 7pm MST at the Marriott Center. Watch the Cougars-Royals game on ESPN+ or listen to the live play-by-play on BYU Radio.