PROVO, Utah – Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team trailed by only two at halftime, but Brigham Young University used a 30-8 run early in the second half to pull away for a 90-76 victory on Saturday in Provo, Utah.
The Cougars (5-2) led by six, 23-17, before the Colonels (4-1) scored six straight, including four by Corey Walden, to tie the game with 4:40 left in the first half. Ja’Mill Powell’s bucket at the 3:14 mark gave Eastern a 27-26 lead. His three-pointer with less than a minute left in the opening stanza knotted the score 30-30. Frank Barley’s bucket with 37 seconds on the clock sent BYU to the locker room in front by two, 32-30.
Powell scored EKU’s first three points of the second half and his basket with 18:30 left in the game got the visitors within one, 34-33. However, the Cougars answered with nine straight to begin the game-changing 30-8 run. BYU had a stretch where seven consecutive field goals came from three-point range. The Cougars hit 9-of-12 from behind the arc to start the half.
Tyler Haws three-pointer with 11:12 left in the game finished off BYU’s streak of seven straight from deep and put his team up 64-41.
Powell led Eastern Kentucky with a career-best 23 points. He connected on7-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range. Walden finished with 15 points, seven assists and two steals. Haws had a game best 26 for BYU. He made 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Chase Fischer added 20 points.
The Cougars went 15-of-28 from three-point range and shot 58 percent from the field for the game.
EKU committed a season-high 17 turnovers while BYU turned it over 19 times.
The Colonels will return home to host Valparaiso University on Wednesday. Tipoff at McBrayer Arena is secheduled for 7 p.m.
NOTES
The game featured two of the top-3 scoring teams in the nation. BYU was first at 96.7 points per game and the Colonels were third at 94.8 points per game.
Ja’Mill Powell’s previous career-high was 17 points against the University of Cincinnati Clermont College.
Entering the game, EKU ranked eighth in the country with an average of 10.5 three-pointers per game and the Cougars were 10th with 10.0 treys per night.
Eastern Kentucky entered the game first in the nation in scoring margin (+44.3), steals (15.3) and turnover margin (+20.3).
BYU is ranked No. 3 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25.
EKU also entered the game among the nation’s leaders in free throw percentage (2nd), assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd), scoring defense (7th) and assists per game (9th).
Eric Stutz is 98 points and four rebounds away from becoming the 13th player in Eastern Kentucky to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.
Corey Walden now needs 68 more steals to break the EKU career record of 221.
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams. BYU leads the all-time series 2-1.
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