BYU Basketball Just Outside the Top 25 Following Fourth Straight Win vs Idaho

Talmage Morgan | Nov 19, 2024

BYU center Fousseyni Traore (45) shoots the ball over Idaho Vandals forward Kyson Rose (34) during an NCAA men’s basketball game held at the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. / Isaac Hale, Deseret News

BYU basketball is off to a strong start this season, overcoming a slow first half and dominating the second half to take down the Idaho Vandals on Saturday and move to 4-0. The Cougars sit just outside the top 25, receiving the fourth most votes after (#26) Texas Tech, Ole Miss, and Xavier.

Richie Saunders had a career scoring night with 26 points and provided a huge defensive spark down the stretch, and Fouss had a monster game down low, making his first 9 shots in a row and ending the night with 29 points and 9 rebounds.

add it to the “W” column💪 pic.twitter.com/0PpZsMiKTc

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 16, 2024

Saunders explains what changed in the second half:

𝑷𝑶𝑺𝑻-𝑮𝑨𝑴𝑬 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑩𝑰𝑻𝑬𝑺:

Richie Saunders pic.twitter.com/TkDtbDUVjK

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 17, 2024

And in case you missed it, Fouss could not be stopped. Even if you saw the game, I promise it's better the second time.

45 had himself a game🫡 https://t.co/J6m3q0BMgo pic.twitter.com/7jbBSO7yew

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 16, 2024

Coming Up

The Cougars will only play one game this week against Mississippi Valley at home before facing their next test of the season the following week, a Thanksgiving game against an Ole Miss team that hasn't lost yet this season but was still inexplicably dropped from the top 25 this week after sitting at #25 last week. A win against the Rebels on Turkey Day could be a Quad 1 win (depending on the Rebels' ranking) to add to the Cougars' early-season non-conference resume.

Although it's still early, Cougar fans should be excited about this team. Another dominant win against Mississippi Valley this week would make it hard to keep BYU outside the top 25.

The chemistry is clearly improving with every game, and newcomers like Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings, and Mihailo Boskovic are showing that they're already high-impact parts of BYU's roster.