BYU vs. Queens: 12 First-Half Threes and a 13-0 Run Lift Robert Wright III and No. 23 BYU 98-82
No. 23 BYU made 12 of 20 threes before halftime, led by 22 in the first half and used a 13-0 second-half run to beat Queens 98-82 at the Marriott Center.
Photo: BYU Athletics. Robert Wright III, official roster photo. Card design: The Dyme.
FINAL, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah: No. 23 BYU 98, Queens 82.
BYU made 12 of its 20 three-point tries in the first half, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play, and scored 54 points before the break. Nate Pickens hit three of those threes in a span of 4:33, and the last one made it 52-30 with 3:22 left in the half. That 22-point margin was BYU's largest lead of the night. Queens' last lead was 9-7 with 15:57 left in the first half.
Robert Wright III led all scorers with 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting and had 6 assists against 1 turnover in 32 minutes. Five of those assists set up 3-pointers, by our count from the play-by-play, including two of Pickens' three.
Queens opened the second half with back-to-back threes from Rickey Ballard and Nasir Mann to cut it to 54-48. With BYU up 59-53, the Cougars scored 13 straight points from 14:43 to 12:15, by our count, to go up 72-53. Queens never got closer than 12 after that.
Who else carried it
Jaxon Kohler scored 15 on 5-of-8 shooting, went 3 of 3 from three and had 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Bruce Branch III added 15 points and 6 rebounds. Pickens finished with 15 off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting, 3 of 5 from deep, in 19 minutes. Collin Chandler scored 12 with 4 steals. BYU's bench outscored Queens' bench 29-24, by our count from the ESPN box.
BYU shot 35 of 65 (54%) and 17 of 37 from three, won the paint 36-24 and blocked 8 shots to Queens' 3. Queens won the glass 38-37 and made 12 of 14 free throws.
Ballard and Caleb Jones each scored 18 for Queens. Ballard made 6 of 12 threes, and Jones came off the bench to hit 4 of 8. Avantae Parker had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals and went 5 of 5 at the line. Mann scored 14 with 7 assists. Queens made 9 threes in the second half, by our count, and lost the half by only 4, 44-40.
The context
Wright came in as the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week after averaging 27.0 points in wins over Ohio State and Omaha, per BYU. In the AP preview, BYU coach Kevin Young wanted to see balanced scoring extend to his bench after reserves combined for 25 points against Omaha.
Queens was picked as the preseason favorite in the Atlantic Sun, and Parker was the preseason ASUN Defensive Player of the Year, per KSL Sports. The Royals came to Provo off a 118-68 loss at Oklahoma State, per the AP. BYU won the only previous meeting 99-55 at the Marriott Center on Nov. 13, 2024, per BYU. The announced attendance was 16,963.
BYU is 3-0 and hosts Montana State on Thursday. Queens falls to 2-2 and hosts Wofford on Saturday.
Sources
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