Fousseyni Traore had 15 points and 11 rebounds to spark BYU to an 87-43 win over visiting Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.
Kanon Catchings added 14 points and Trevin Knell chipped in 12 points off the bench as the Cougars (5-0) won their fifth straight game at the Marriott Center to open the season.
Dallin Hall returned from a toe injury to contribute 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in his season debut for BYU.
Donovan Sanders topped Mississippi Valley State (1-5) with 14 points, and Arthur Tate scored 12.
BYU never trailed, shot 53.4 percent compared with 37.8 percent for Mississippi Valley State and gained a 38-23 rebounding advantage.
Freshman Egor Demin, a projected NBA Lottery pick, tallied eight points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, one blocked shot and three turnovers in the win.
Richie Saunders hit a jumper and then assisted Hall on a 3-pointer during a 9-2 spurt that pushed the Cougars’ lead to 16-7 with 15:36 left in the first half.
Hall capped a 10-0 run for BYU with another 3 as BYU seized a 30-13 lead with 10:13 left. The Cougars continued that momentum the rest of the way, heading into halftime with a 55-27 lead.
Dawson Baker scored 10 points off the bench in the win.
Hamilton tipped in a putback to open the second half, and Sanders then hit a jumper as the Delta Devils scored four in a row.
After a three-plus-minute drought, Traore knocked down two free throws to ignite the Cougars’ 7-0 run, pushing their lead to 62-31 with 15:27 left in the game.
MVSU only scored 16 points in the second half.
–Field Level Media
