Texas Southern Tigers at BYU Cougars

No. 18 BYU improves to 5-0, beats Texas Southern 81-64

Lucas matched his season high in assists and finished with zero turnovers for the first time this season. He helped the Cougars overcome 39% shooting from the field.

“Man, he’s a gifted playmaker,” BYU coach Mark Pope said.

Fousseyni Traore scored 13 points while Alex Barcello scored 12 and Gavin Baxter added 11 for the Cougars (5-0). Gideon George had 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

BYU improved to 12-0 all-time vs. Southwestern Athletic Conference teams.

P.J. Henry led the Tigers (0-6) with 21 points. Brison Gresham added 12 points and nine rebounds for Texas Southern, which fell to 0-4 all-time against BYU. The Tigers also shot 39% from the field.

“Fantastic basketball team,” Texas Southern coach Johnny Jones said. “Very talented and skilled. I think they have the potential to be a better squad than they were a year ago.”

Texas Southern took a quick 4-0 lead on back-to-back baskets from Justin Hopkins and Gresham before BYU seized control.

Defensively, the Cougars clamped down on the Tigers for a long stretch in the first half. Texas Southern missed 12 of 14 field-goal attempts over a 9 1/2-minute stretch. It opened the door for BYU to build a double-digit lead.

Hopkins made four free throws in less than a minute to trim BYU’s advantage to 32-26.

Spencer Johnson, George and Barcello each made 3-pointers to extend the Cougars’ lead to 43-30 going into halftime.

“They fought hard,” Lucas said. “Give them all the credit. They punched us in the mouth a lot of times and we (were) able to respond.”

BYU maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Texas Southern: The Tigers have yet to play a home game. They won’t make their home debut until Jan. 8 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff — their 14th game of the season.

BYU: The Cougars once again showed tenacity in dominating around the basket. They frequently attacked the rim for high-percentage shots. BYU finished with a 52-38 rebounding advantage and outscored Texas Southern 20-5 in second-chance points.

UP NEXT

Texas Southern has a week off before playing at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 1.

BYU visits archrival Utah on Saturday.

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