No. 14 BYU blows out Evansville to open the season 8-0

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Jaxon Robinson scored 19 points and No. 14 BYU routed Evansville 96-55 on Tuesday night to remain undefeated.

Trevin Knell had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Cougars. Noah Waterman added 12 points and eight rebounds. Dallin Hall finished with 10 points, seven assists and six boards.

BYU (8-0) shot 53% from the field and made 14 3-pointers. The Cougars had three separate runs of 12-0 or better.

Yacine Toumi led Evansville with 13 points and Antonio Thomas added 10. The Purple Aces (7-2) averaged 85.6 points over their first eight games before being shut down by BYU. They shot just 33% from the field.

Aly Khalifa made back-to-back baskets to ignite a 17-0 run that gave BYU a 26-10 lead midway through the first half. The Cougars made six straight baskets in three minutes to build a comfortable cushion.

A prolonged shooting drought opened the door for BYU’s decisive run. Evansville missed seven consecutive field goal attempts and committed three turnovers during a six-minute stretch.

Evansville trimmed the deficit to 31-22 on back-to-back baskets from Thomas. But the Purple Aces got no closer after scoring a single basket over the final six minutes of the first half as the Cougars pulled away again.

Robinson and Knell combined for three straight 3-pointers to spark a 25-4 run spanning both halves that gave BYU a 60-29 lead with 16:20 left.

BIG PICTURE

Evansville: The Purple Aces endured numerous scoring droughts and struggled to find any consistent rhythm against BYU’s tough defense after building a one-point lead five minutes into the game.

BYU: Once again, the Cougars stifled an opponent on the perimeter and the glass while scoring at will on the other end of the court.

UP NEXT

Evansville visits Bellarmine on Dec. 16.

BYU plays at Utah on Saturday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball