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DENVER — Maybe BYU’s winless skid in the NCAA Tournament just needed some Mile High magic.
Richie Saunders had 16 points with four rebounds and two assists, and Egor Demin added 15 points with four rebounds as the sixth-seeded Cougars pulled past No. 11 VCU 80-71 to clinch their first tournament victory since 2012 Thursday afternoon at the Ball Center.
Fousseyni Traore added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Keba Keita had 9 points and nine rebounds for BYU (25-9), which advanced to face third-seeded Wisconsin in Saturday’s Round of 32.
Zeb Jackson had 23 points and four assists for VCU, and Joe Bamisile added 12 points including four 3-pointers for the Rams.
Jack Clark had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists for VCU, which won the Atlantic-10 championship Sunday afternoon.
The Rams (28-7) were a top-31 team in both the NET and KenPom, including an adjusted defensive efficiency of 95.9 — rated No. 23 nationally by KenPom.
But BYU’s offense was too much, shooting 50% from the field, including 7-of-20 from 3-point range and 17-of-25 from the free-throw line to close out its first tournament win in over a decade.
The 3-ball was kind to BYU in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Demin gave the Cougars a 14-10 edge six minutes in.
Another by Dawson Baker pushed BYU back in front with 9:26 to go as the Cougars held VCU without a bucket for more than two minutes.
The Cougars shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first half, while a defense led by Mawot Mag held the Rams to 37.9% from the field and just 4-of-16 from deep.
A-10 player of the year Max Shulga, a Utah State transfer, shot just 1-of-4 from the field in the first half for 3 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Shulga finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists on 4-of-10 shooting — doing all of his scoring from beyond the arc.
The Cougars weren’t done, though.
Saunders scored 6 points as BYU opened the second half with a 15-6 tear to stretch the lead as high as 20 at the 15:59 mark.
VCU trimmed the deficit to as little as 10 until the waning moments, when Jackson’s fourth triple cut the deficit to 75-66 with 55 seconds to go and finished out the 9-point loss.
This story will be updated.
