BYU Rides Big Second Half to Beat Miami

BYU got contributions outside of its big three and made big shots in the second half to beat Miami 72-62 in the semifinals of the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational.

After going into halftime down 33-29, BYU went on a 13-5 run in the first five minutes after the half and never looked back. Kennard Davis returned from a two-game suspension and led BYU with 18 points and four made threes. His contributions on defense also slowed down Miami’s offense. Keba Keita had just 6 points, but had 10 rebounds and 7 blocks to stymie Miami’s bigs and guards at the rim. Miami relies on getting to the paint, and Keba was a huge piece in BYU’s win. Rob Wright scored 17 points and AJ Dybantsa had 16 to round out the double-digit scorers.

BYU as a team shot 9-19 from three while the Hurricanes were just 5-22. BYU also held the Hurricanes to 38% shooting. Dawson Baker suffered a knee injury in the second half, and his status will be something to watch. The injury looked like it could be serious.

This will be a quality win for BYU on the resume and has a chance to be a Quad 1 win. BYU next plays the winner of Dayton-Georgetown Friday night.