Provo, UTAH –
The Kevin Young era is officially underway in Provo, Utah.
BYU men’s basketball down Divison II Colorado Christian 93-49 Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.
Exhibition game✅ pic.twitter.com/UXRW3oZeTF
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) October 31, 2024
Freshman Kanon Catchings led the Cougars in scoring with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, to go along with four rebounds.
BYU returns four key players in redshirt: senior Trevin Knell, senior Fousseyni Traroe, and juniors Richie Saunders and Dallin Hall.
Knell and Saunders scored in double figures.
The shot doctor scored 15 of 17 points from beyond the arch, going 5-of-8 from a 3-point range. Saunders added 15 points, going 4-of-6 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. In the past couple of seasons, Saunders has shot 70% and above from the charity stripe.
11 Cougars scored in the contest.
Kanon Catchings
Freshman Kanon Catchings had the green light Wednesday night against Colorado Christian and shot 80% from the field, missing only two shots.
Cougs on top 64-20, 14:53 2H
Cougs with 11 threes. Kanon leads all scorers with 17. pic.twitter.com/503AtimKmC
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) October 31, 2024
Catchings, who originally committed to Purdue following his sophomore year of high school, reopened his recruitment earlier in the summer. He visited Florida State, North Carolina State, and BYU before ultimately committing to the Cougars.
The 6-foot-10 forward from Brownsburg, Indiana, played his senior year at Overtime Elite, where he averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds. He also shot 37% from 3-point range for the Cold Hearts.
Catchings is a projected first-round draft pick in the 2025 NBA Draft next year, which will take place in New York City.
Elijah Crawford
Dallin averaged 29.3 minutes last season and, at times, looked gassed due to depth at point guard.
That won’t be the case this season, as multiple ball handlers can run Kevin Young’s offense.
One of those ball handlers is true freshman Elijah Crawford. Crawford scored eight points to go along with four assists and three rebounds.
Recorded a pregame chat with BYU head coach Kevin Young ahead of his team's exhibition clash with Colorado Christian tonight; he'll be going with the following starting five:
Egor Demin
Trevin Knell
Richie Saunders
Kanon Catchings
Keba KeitaCoach Young says Dallin Hall and…
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) October 31, 2024
Crawford’s skill set will take immense pressure off of Dallin Hall. Hall would sit out due to precautionary reasons, per BYU coach Kevin Young.
Enter Greggs tweet
The 6-foot-2 combo guard out of Brewster Academy is rated a 4-star and Top-100 recruit from the 2024 class according to EPSN, 247Sports, and On3. who averaged 12.0 points per game, 4.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game on 46% shooting from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the charity stripe.
https://twitter.com/BYUMBB/status/1793012749326499900
Egor Demin
The projected No. 9 lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft didn’t score a single basketball, which tells you how much defensive attention he draws from teams.
He is a triple-double machine, so despite making no baskets in the exhibition, he dropped 11 assists and grabbed six rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
With no Dallin Hall in Wednesday’s exhibition, Demin was required to be the primary, if not only, ball handler amongst starters Trevin Knell, Richie Sauders, Kanon Catchings, and Keba Keita.
The Cougars will open their non-conference play Tuesday, Nov. 4th, when they host Central Arkansas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm MDT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
