Make that three wins in a row to start the season for BYU.
After a rough first half, the Cougars surged late to earn a 85-68 victory over Delaware Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.
3 takeaways
Rob Wright had a career night. BYU’s first two games of the season were the AJ Dybantsa show, but against Delaware, Wright had his turn to own the spotlight.
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The Cougars’ sophomore point guard was electric, posting a career-best 26 points and nine rebounds along with nine assists — a stat line Mr. Triple-Double Kyle Collinsworth would surely be proud of. He also hit four 3-pointers and even grabbed five offensive rebounds.
When BYU was floundering, Wright took over the game and put the Cougars on his back. He was the best player on the floor and fought hard in all of his 36 minutes — though hunting for a triple-double may have influenced some of that.
Dybantsa will draw most of the headlines this season, but more performances like this from Wright will be impossible to ignore. BYU’s big three of Dybantsa, Wright and Richie Saunders may be the most talented trio in all of college basketball, and they definitely ended up looking the part against Delaware.
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BYU let Delaware hang around for too long. It was a rather awkward first half at the Marriott Center, with the Blue Hens leading 37-34 after 20 minutes of play. The Cougars didn’t even take their first lead until just under the 15 minute mark of the second half.
Delaware shot 11 of 24 from 3-point range and averaged 1.17 points per possession, though that number hovered in the 1.2 and 1.3 range for most of the night.
BYU eventually got its act together — after leading 53-52 with just over 12 minutes left to play, the Cougars went on a 32-10 run to put the game away.
But BYU clearly has some issues defensively and is still lacking in the chemistry department, as was evident against the Blue Hens.
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Improvement in those areas will surely come with time — and the Cougars’ loaded nonconference slate will force them to grow up faster before the start of Big 12 play — but BYU can’t afford another first half letdown this weekend against No. UConn.
The Cougars — especially Richie Saunders — got their groove back from 3-point range. BYU has been ice cold from behind the arc to start each game of this young season, but the Cougars finally heated up in the second half on Tuesday.
After starting 0 for 11 from long distance, BYU then made 12 of its next 17 3-pointers as the primary catalyst for the late surge.
Saunders, who shot 43.2% from 3 last year but had struggled in his past two outings, went 6 for 11 from deep, with all six of his makes coming in the second half.
