Unbeaten No. 23 BYU looks to stay hot against Montana State

Fresh off of another high-scoring win, No. 23 BYU Cougars will look to continue its unbeaten start against Montana State Bobcats on Thursday night in Provo, Utah.

The Cougars (3-0) nearly reached the century mark in scoring Tuesday when they defeated visiting Queens (N.C.) University 98-82 at the Marriott Center. BYU, which routed visiting Omaha 108-67 on last Friday, is averaging 100.0 points per outing, having scored at least 94 points in its three victories.

Rob Wright III, the current Big 12 player of the week, continued his hot start with 21 points and six assists. He made 9 of 19 field-goal attempts to pace the Cougars, who shot 53.8% overall and 45.9% (17 of 37) from 3-point range. BYU made 12 treys in the first half.

Bruce Branch III, Jaxon Kohler and Nate Pickens each scored 15 points in the fast-paced game. All five BYU starters made at least two 3-pointers, with Kohler going 3-for-3 while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

"We have so many talented shooters," Wright said. "It's like anytime you make it one more (pass), you just know the ball's probably going in. So we just try and trust each other and keep building that trust, and we know the shots gonna keep falling."

BYU led by as many as 22, but the Royals nearly matched the Cougars in second-half points (44-40) after trailing by 12 at halftime (54-42).

"I think the efficiency is what I get the most excited about," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "I still feel a little frustration where I think we're leaving money on the table. This team's secret sauce is to play unselfishly, and when we do that, I think we're going to score a lot of points."

Young is hopeful that getting challenged by the likes of Big Sky Conference preseason favorite Montana State and Queens, which has four starters back from its 2025-26 NCAA tournament squad, will help the Cougars grow leading up to conference action.

"You want to get tested," Young said. "You don't want to come out and just win those games by 40 or 50 points. If you play a good team and you win by that, great. But it's hard to do against a team of that caliber. That's a team that will be in contention to win their league, and be in contention to make the tournament. So I hope that maybe that makes that win age well.

"But," he added, "more than anything, it was good for our guys to play against grown men who are good basketball players and test us in ways that, in some respects, haven't been tested like that in certain instances."

The Bobcats (1-1) come into this contest after earning their first win, an 83-70 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday.

Nine Montana State players scored, including Jeremiah Davis with his second career double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jed Miller hit four 3s en route to 14 points, while Christian King added 12.

The Bobcats shot 51.7% from the floor (30 of 58), with 11 triples.

"I'm really proud of all the different contributors," Montana State coach Matt Logie said. "To get nine guys in scoring ... was tremendous for us. Jeremiah got hit with a couple fouls early but then was able to bounce back."

--Field Level Media