BYU finished off its preseason slate with an 89-77 exhibition road win over UNLV Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. BYU won a closed scrimmage 102-53 versus Long Beach State, beat Nebraska 72-61 last week, and closed things out with a double-digit win over the Rebels.
BYU trailed 42-30 late in the first half, but ended the half on a 11-0 run and outscored UNLV 59-35 after falling behind 42-30. Collin Chandler led BYU with 23 points (4-8 from three), Jaxon Kohler and Rob Wright had 19 points apiece, and Bruce Branch finished with 14 points and a team-high 8 assists. BYU shot 10-30 from three and won the turnover battle 18-10. UCLA transfer Sebastian Mack led UNLV with 26 points. UNLV was without several key players, including both of their Preseason All-Conference players Tyrin Jones and AJ Storr.
Takeaways
BYU has a clear top four.BYU's big four may not have anyone as good as AJ Dybantsa and Richie Saunders, but BYU's top four scorers of Collin Chandler, Jaxon Kohler, Rob Wright, and Bruce Branch are a high-level offensive group. Those four players combined for 75 of BYU's 89 points. BYU's other starter — Tyler Betsey — scored 0 points in 22 minutes while shooting 0-1. Khadim Mboup provided a spark off the bench. BYU will need some offensive production from other, but those top four players can put up a lot of points.
Jaxon Kohler is BYU's best frontcourt players since at least Yoeli Childs.Jaxon Kohler is one of the best bigs in the Big 12. Jaxon has a chance to be one of the top rebounders in the country, and his ability to hit threes and score on the block make this one of the best offenses in college hoops. He is a First-Team All Big 12 player.
BYU's defense remains a question mark.BYU's defense did much better in the second half, but for most of the first half UNLV's guards got into the paint without much opposition. BYU has proven early on that they will be more aggressive on defense and force more turnovers, but that is partly out of necessity. BYU has no rim protector on this team, and that will cause defense to attack the paint relentlessly and either get shots at the rim or collapse the defense and set up open threes.
Khadim Mboup will play a big role.Tyler Betsey has been mostly invisible in both exhibitions. Betsey received great reviews in the offseason and is a knockdown shooter, but early on he hasn't given much. Betsey will have games where he hits shots and provides spacing, but Khadim Mboup could eat more of his minutes if Khadim continues to provide the spark he did today. Mboup is already the backup five behind Kohler, and BYU could play more of him and Kohler together on the floor. Mboup had a nice game with 7 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes. Mboup's ability to switch 1-5 and attack the glass give BYU a different look.
Bruce Branch is a playmaker.I did not expect Bruce Branch to look this good this early on. Branch has been great in all three of BYU's three preseason games, showing different parts of his game. Today he had a team-high 8 assists, including two lob dunks to Khadim Mboup in pick-and-roll. If this is Bruce's starting point that he improves on, BYU will be a dangerous team.
BYU's next game is the season opener versus Ohio State in Salt Lake City on Monday, November 2. KenPom gives both teams a 50% chance to win.
