Cougs Daily

BYU Basketball Cruises Past VCU to Advance to Second Round of the NCAA Tournament

Casey Lundquist

Mar 20, 2025; Denver, CO, USA; The Brigham Young Cougars bench celebrates during the second half against the VCU Rams in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Mar 20, 2025; Denver, CO, USA; The Brigham Young Cougars bench celebrates during the second half against the VCU Rams in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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For the first time since 2011, BYU has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars cruised past the VCU Rams on Thursday thanks thanks to standout performances from a variety of players. BYU led by as many as 20 in the second half and held on to win 80-71. With the win, BYU will take on 3-seed Wisconsin for the chance to advance to the Sweet 16.

BYU point guard Egor Demin had one of his best shooting performances of the season. Demin finished with 15 points on 6/11 from the field. Demin was 3/4 from deep in the first half and his makes came at critical times when BYU was finding itself on the offensive end.

Richie Saunders was efficient on offense as he has been all season. Saunders scored 16 points on 6/12 shooting. He had six points in under 60 seconds to start the half that extended BYU's lead and the Cougars never looked back.

The most valuable players of this game, in the opinion of this author, were the BYU bigs. Keba Keita and Fousseyni Traore dominated during the middle of the game when BYU went on a big scoring run. Keita had 9 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 1 steal. VCU had nobody to match the athleticism of Keita in the paint.

Fousseyni Traore was brilliant for BYU in his 19 minutes off the bench. Traore had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists. He was +9 for the game which was second behind only Mawot Mag (+10). Traore and Keita combined for eight offensive rebounds.

Dallin Hall had six points, all in the second half, and his field goals came at critical times to slow down some small VCU runs. Most importantly, Hall finished with zero turnovers against a very aggressive VCU defense.

VCU outscored BYU by 24 points from three in this game. The Cougars countered by outscoring VCU by 18 poitns in the paint.

BYU will take on Wisconsin on Saturday for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.

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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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