BYU Basketball Handles Rival Utah For Eight Consecutive Win

On Saturday night, the BYU basketball team handled rival Utah on senior night in an 85-74 win. With the win, BYU ends the regular season at 23-8 overall and 14-6 in conference play including eight consecutive wins to finish the season.

BYU vs Utah || FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS pic.twitter.com/WelNs9ljqp
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 9, 2025

Five BYU players scored in double figures for the Cougars. BYU was led by Dawson Baker who scored 15 points off the bench. In moments where BYU was struggling to score, Baker made a few really critical shots. He made the first three of the game late in the first half after BYU had missed its first 11 threes.

Another three for Daws. Game high 15 points. 🔥

📺 ESPNU pic.twitter.com/XRsrw07gOC
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 9, 2025

Richie Saunders didn't have his most efficient outing, but he still finished with 14 points on 5/10 shooting and he added 5 rebounds. Saunders was a critical part of BYU's run to start the second half. It was clear that Kevin Young wanted to get the ball to Saunders early and often in the second half.

Egor Demin had arguably his best game of the season against the Utes. Demin had 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists to just 1 turnover. Utah was dominating the boards and Demin was one of a handful of players that stepped in and cleaned up the defensive rebounds to create a lead.

Keba Keita played a really great game against his former team. Keita finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. He did a really good job containing Lawson Lovering who finished with only 3 points on 1/7 shooting.

Mihailo Boskovic provided some really good minutes for BYU off the bench. Boskovic finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.

This game turned with less than a minute left in the first half. Utah had a 30-29 lead with 46 seconds remaining. BYU tried to get a quick shot off and take advantage of a two-for-one opportunity. Keba Keita tipped in a Trevin Knell miss to give BYU a 31-30 lead. A Utah turnover gave BYU the ball back with seconds remaining in the first half, and Dall Hill drilled a deep three to end the half and give BYU a 34-30 lead.

COLD BLOODED AT THE BUZZER @DallinHHall 🥶

📺 ESPNU pic.twitter.com/5M2cianSMB
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 9, 2025

BYU did not relinquish the lead after that quick 5-0 run to end the half. BYU got off to a quick start in the second half. BYU's lead ballooned from 4 to 10 in the first four minutes of the second half.

Utah trimmed BYU's lead down to five with just under 12 minutes remaining, but a 12-0 run put the game away. BYU's run was sparked by a technical foul on Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert. BYU led by seven when Eilert was called for a technical foul. Richie Saunders made both techincal free throws and Trevin Knell three extended BYU's lead to double digits a few possessions later.

Overall, this was an ugly game with a lot of referee interference. The referees called 47 fouls and 3 technical fouls in 40 minutes.

With the win, BYU moves on to the Big 12 tournament where they will enjoy a double bye to the quarterfinals.