Cougars defeat No. 25 UNC in preseason finale – Deseret News

BYU basketball closed out the preseason with a win.

The No. 8 Cougars hung on late to defeat No. 25 North Carolina 78-76 Friday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City to finish 1-1 in their pair of exhibition contests.

3 takeaways

Dybantsa and Keita shined. Just like last week at Nebraska, AJ Dybantsa was excellent on Friday for BYU.

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The freshman phenom scored a team-high 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting, adding eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals as well.

Keba Keita was a beast down low, posting a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, with eight of his boards coming on the offensive glass.

Additionally, Keita went a perfect 4 for 4 from the free throw line — no small feat for the big man — and swiped two steals while also swatting away UNC’s would-be tying shot in the final seconds to seal the victory for BYU.

The Cougars struggled from behind the arc. BYU made just 5 of 25 3-pointers on the night, with Richie Saunders the only player to sink multiple such shots — though he finished just 2 of 9.

Luckily for the Cougars, UNC shot 21.1% from deep, as BYU’s perimeter defense appeared much better than last week’s showing at Nebraska.

Despite the lack of 3-point success, it was far from an offensive dud for the Cougars. BYU scored 44 points in the paint, hit 19 free throws and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds.

Shooting woes in October are nothing to lose sleep over; the Cougars should be fine and Saunders will eventually shake his recent funk. But BYU only turning the ball over 12 times in a competitive outing against a ranked opponent at this point in the season is definitely laudable.

Kevin Young treated this like a regular season game. Unlike last week’s game wherein the Cougars kept their end of bench players in for a potential game-winner, Young coached Friday as if the result actually counted.

BYU’s starters were Rob Wright III, Kennard Davis, Dybantsa, Saunders and Keita, with Khadim Mboup coming off the bench first.

Mihailo Boskovic played the most of any reserve with 22 minutes on the floor, followed by Mboup with 13 minutes, Aleksej Kostic with 10 and eight from Tyler Mrus.

The Cougars only had 10 bench points, but such an output was to be expected with the starters playing an average of 29 minutes each.

Wright had 12 points and five assists, Saunders scored 14 with three steals, and Boskovic and Mboup combined for 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Just like last week, BYU held Dawson Baker, Nate Pickens and Brody Kozlowski out of the contest.

The next time the Cougars will take the floor, it will be against Villanova in Las Vegas for the regular season opener.