Jaxon Robinson scored a career-high 19 points to lead BYU to a 93-50 victory over Morgan State in Provo, Utah, on Saturday night.
Fousseyni Traore chipped in 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Cougars. Noah Waterman tallied 15 points and matched a career high with eight rebounds. Richie Saunders added 12 points, while Spencer Johnson dished out a career-high eight assists.
BYU (4-0) shot 55.9 percent from the floor and outscored the Bears 32-4 in fastbreak points. The Cougars also scored 24 points off 14 turnovers.
Will Thomas led Morgan State with 10 points and nine rebounds. Wynston Tabbs added nine points. The Bears (2-3) remained winless against Division I opponents this season after shooting just 34.9 percent from the field.
BYU used a 13-2 run to take control of the game midway through the first half. Shortly after Morgan State cut its deficit to 10-7 on a jumper from Kiran Oliver, the Cougars made five straight baskets over a two-plus-minute stretch to build a double-digit lead. Robinson capped the spurt with back-to-back baskets that put BYU up 23-9.
The Cougars led by as many as 17 points before halftime after shooting 60.7 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes.
Morgan State had chipped away at the deficit and briefly trimmed it to single digits again before the first half ended. A layup from Tabbs punctuated a 9-1 run that cut BYU’s lead to 36-27 with 2:16 remaining until intermission.
The Cougars countered with three straight baskets to quell a potential comeback. Robinson and Trey Stewart each scored in transition to finish off the spurt and put the Cougars up 42-27 just before the break.
BYU did not take its foot off the gas after halftime. Traore opened the second half by making four straight baskets, including a three-point play, to fuel an 11-0 run. Johnson hit a pair of free throws to punctuate the surge and give the Cougars a 53-29 lead.
The hosts led by as much as 43.
–Field Level Media