Junior Fousseyni Traore scored a season-high 24 points as No. 22 BYU defeated West Virginia 86-73 on Saturday evening in front of 11,753 fans at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
Traore eclipsed the 20-point plateau for the first time this season, going 10 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. He also tied a season high with nine rebounds, six of those coming on the offensive glass.
“I’m super grateful for my teammates,” Traore said. “They’re the ones that made my life super easy by finding me and making easy passes. It was just fun to play with my boys.”
Richie Saunders scored 17 points off the bench, making a career-best four 3-pointers. Jaxson Robinson and Spencer Johnson finished with 15 and 12, respectively.
“Man, that was a fun game,” Johnson said. “Never been to West Virginia. First time for me and I think a lot of guys. Super fun. West Virginia has been playing really, really well at home. They beat Kansas, Texas and Cincinnati. We knew we had a job coming in here that we had to take care of business. Super fun to come on the road and get a win.”
The Cougars won their second straight game after a loss to Houston last Saturday and improved to 16-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big 12.
Kerr Kriisa led three West Virginia players in double figures by scoring 23 points. The Mountaineers fell to 8-14 and 3-6.
BYU shot 48.5 percent from the floor 36.1 percent from three and 64.3 percent from the free-throw line. Both teams had 35 rebounds including nine on the offensive glass. The Cougars assisted on 19 of their 36 makes with only eight turnovers, four steals and four blocks.
