DENVER — Igor Demin and Richie Saunders led BYU to an 80-71 victory over VCU in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, giving first-year Cougars coach Kevin Young a better memory of Ball Arena than his last one.
The former Suns assistant watched the Denver Nuggets bounce Phoenix from the playoffs at this arena in 2023, leading Young to say this week that he still has nightmares of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
It was Saunders (16 points) and Demin (15) who haunted VCU and propelled the sixth-seeded Cougars (25-9) into a Saturday showdown against third-seeded Wisconsin, which handled Montana 85-66 earlier in the day in the East Region.
Zeb Jackson scored a season-high 23 points for the Rams (28-7), who reached the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years but still haven't had any March Madness success since 2016.
Max Shulga, Joe Bamisile and Jack Clark all added 12 points for the Rams, who boasted their best record in 13 years and were coming off winning the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles.
Demin's third 3-pointer broke a 24-all tie and sparked the Cougars on a 15-4 run over the final 4:47 to close the first half with a 39-28 lead. BYU pushed it to 20 points before the Rams fought back behind 15 total 3-pointers. However, they never could get closer than nine points.
Fousseyni Traore added 13 points for the Cougars, who were also a No. 6 seed in last year's tournament when they were upset by 11th-seeded Duquesne 71-67. Mark Pope departed for Kentucky and Young replaced him, luring Saunders and Dallin Hall back to Provo after both players entered the transfer portal.
Young and his staff also brought in Demin and high-impact transfers Keba Keita (Utah) and Mawot Mag (Rutgers). As Demin, a potential NBA lottery pick, was talking about the win courtside, BYU fans serenaded with chants of "One more year!"
One more assist
Demin didn't officially have any assists in the first half but he got one nonetheless just before halftime when Jackson's 3-point attempt bounced over the backboard and nestled up against the shot clock.
Demin grabbed the ball boy's mop and poked the ball free.
