PROVO, Utah (AP) — Jake Toolson scored 22 points, including a dagger of a step-back 3-pointer in the waning seconds as Brigham Young narrowly defeated Southern Utah 68-63 on Wednesday night.
Dalton Nixon had 13 points and seven rebounds for Brigham Young (2-1). TJ Haws added 10 points. Connor Harding had six rebounds for the Cougars.
John Knight III scored 14 of his 22 points after halftime and pulled down six rebounds for the Thunderbirds (2-1). Andre Adams added 12 points. Harrison Butler had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Dre Marin scored 4 points despite heading into the contest as the Thunderbirds' second leading scorer at 15 points per game. He was 0 of 5 from 3-point range.
Neither team led by more than six points throughout the second half, and Knight cut the gap to 63-62 driving for a layup with 1:04 remaining,
Toolson drained his game-saving 3 from the top of the key on the other end and SUU didn’t get closer than three points after.
The Thunderbirds, coming off a 79-78 defeat of the Big Ten’s Nebraska, made more field goals (28 versus 23), had a 38-31 edge in rebounds, outscored BYU 46-22 in the paint but, critically, were 0-for-12 from behind the arc.
Toolson, Haws and Nixon each hit two 3-pointers for BYU, which was 8 of 22 from distance.
Brigham Young matches up against Houston on the road on Friday. Southern Utah takes on UCLA on the road on Monday.
