BYU cruises past Mississippi Valley State, improves to 5-0

Fousseyni Traore had 15 points and 11 rebounds to spark BYU to an 87-43 win over visiting Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.Kanon Catchings added 14 points and Trevin Knell chipped in 12 points off the bench as the Cougars (5-0) won their fifth straight game at the Marriott Center to open the season.Dallin Hall returned from a toe injury to contribute 10 points, five assists and four rebounds in his season debut for BYU.Donovan Sanders topped Mississippi Valley State (1-5) with 14 points, and Arthur Tate scored 12.BYU never trailed, shot 53.4 percent compared with 37.8 percent for Mississippi Valley State and gained a 38-23 rebounding advantage.Freshman Egor Demin, a projected NBA Lottery pick, tallied eight points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals, one blocked shot and three turnovers in the win.Richie Saunders hit a jumper and then assisted Hall on a 3-pointer during a 9-2 spurt that pushed the Cougars’ lead to 16-7 with 15:36 left in the first half.Hall capped a 10-0 run for BYU with another 3 as BYU seized a 30-13 lead with 10:13 left. The Cougars continued that momentum the rest of the way, heading into halftime with a 55-27 lead.

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