Cougs Daily

BYU Avoids Collapse, Hits Clutch Shots Late to Beat Kansas State

On Saturday night, no. 21 BYU avoided a disastrous late collapse to beat Kansas State 72-66. For the first 35 minutes, BYU controlled the game. The Cougars,

Casey Lundquist

On Saturday night, no. 21 BYU avoided a disastrous late collapse to beat Kansas State 72-66. For the first 35 minutes, BYU controlled the game. The Cougars, despite shooting poorly from three, maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

With 5:58 remaining in the game, Noah Waterman hit a three to give BYU a 16-point lead. Over the next 2:15 seconds, Kansas State went on a quick 11-0 run to cut the lead to five with 3:43 remaining. The Marriott Center crowd, which had been loud and active all night, was stunned.

In that span, BYU missed the front end of a one-and-one, missed a layup, missed multiple wide-open threes, and committed turnovers. The run finally stopped when Dallin Hall made one of two flagrant free throws to extend the lead back to six.

Over the next few possessions, however, Kansas State cut the lead from six to two with 1:11 remaining. Jaxson Robinson stepped up when it mattered most. With 0:51 seconds remaining, Robinson grabbed a pass at the top of the key with one hand, gathered, and hit a clutch three-point shot to give BYU a five-point lead. His shot ended a 5:07 field goal drought.

Kansas State still wouldn't go away. Arthur Kalama drove along the baseline and used his length to wrap around the basket and make an acrobatic layup. BYU got the ball back with 0:32 seconds left and a three-point lead. 

Despite BYU's free throw struggles, Kansas State opted not to foul. Spencer Johnson navigated through the Kansas State defense and found an open lane to the rim to give BYU a five-point lead with 0:13 seconds left.

Spencer Johnson basketball Kansas State

BYU's late-game collapses have become a disconcerting trend in conference play. However, that problem isn't unique to BYU. Winning games in the Big 12 is incredibly hard. Double-digit leads in this conference are never safe.

This was a must-win game for BYU, and the Cougars hit clutch shots late to hold on for the win. 

Five BYU players scored in double figures. The Cougars were led by Fousseyni Traore who had 14 points and 8 rebounds. Jaxson Robinson and Spencer Johnson scored 12 apiece. Noah Waterman scored 11 points and Trevin Knell scored 10.

Trey Stewart, who hadn't played since the conference opener against Cincinnati, played nine valuable minutes. Stewart was a spark of energy off the bench. He had 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. He was +8 on the night, second only to Aly Khalifa who was +10.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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