BYU will attempt to win its third straight game in first-year coach Kevin Young’s tenure when Queens University of Charlotte visits Provo, Utah, on Wednesday night.
Freshman Egor Demin, a projected NBA lottery pick, sparked the Cougars (2-0) to home victories over Central Arkansas and UC Riverside last week. The Moscow, Russia, native averaged 19 points, 9 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the wins.
The Cougars, a member of the Big 12, have won 15 straight non-conference home games.
Wednesday will mark a quick turnaround for Queens (2-1), which lost for the first time Tuesday night against Utah in Salt Lake City. Chris Ashby scored 14 points, but the Royals were outscored 55-34 in the second half of a 96-65 setback.
Bryce Cash added 11 points, while Jaxon Pollard and Asjon Anderson chipped in 10 points apiece in Queens’ loss.
The Cougars, meanwhile, are coming off of an 86-80 win over UC Riverside on Friday. Demin led BYU with 20 points.
Other players who are off to good starts for the Cougars are Richie Saunders (averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds a game), freshman Kanon Catchings (13 points per game) and Utah transfer Keba Keita (10 points, 10 rebounds per game).
Though the Cougars are averaging 87 points on 49.3 percent shooting from the field, their free-throw performance has left room for improvement. BYU has hit just 21 of 37 foul shots (56.8 percent).
“We’ve got to get back to making them under pressure with 20,000 people watching you, and we will,” Saunders said. “It’s just coming out and doing it, just making them.”
Wednesday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Royals and Cougars. The game will be a homecoming for Bobby Horodyski, who was BYU’s director of basketball operations before joining Queens as an assistant coach in the summer of 2023.
–Field Level Media
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