Robert Wright III scored a game-high 21 points and dished out six assists as No. 23 BYU pulled away from Queens in the second half for a 98-82 victory on Tuesday in Provo, Utah.
Bruce Branch III produced 15 points and Jaxon Kohler recorded 15 points and eight rebounds. Nate Pickens also tallied 15 points and Collin Chandler pitched in 12 points for BYU (3-0).
Rickey Ballard posted 18 points and converted 6 of 12 3-point attempts for the Royals (2-2). Teammate Caleb Jones put up 18 points and made four threes. Avantae Parker registered 16 points and eight rebounds, and Nasir Mann finished with 14 points and seven assists for the Royals, who dropped their second straight game.
BYU shot 45.9% from 3-point range (17 of 37), while Queens connected on 41.2% (14 of 34) of its attempts from beyond the arc.
The Cougars’ lead swelled to 52-30 with 3:22 left in the first half. But Parker’s three-point play sparked a 12-2 run to close the first half. Jones canned a three during the rally as the Royals trailed 54-42 at the break.
Queens carried its momentum out of the locker room and closed within 54-48 by opening the second half with threes from Ballard and Mann.
A 13-0 run gave BYU some breathing room. Branch converted a layup through contact and sank the ensuing free throw as part of the surge, and Khadim Mboup’s tip-in pushed BYU to a 72-53 advantage with 12:15 remaining in the second half.
The Cougars held a 12-5 edge in second-chance points for the game.
But Queens clawed its way back into the game with consecutive threes from Isaiah Henry and Ballard and the Royals’ deficit was 72-59 with 11:16 remaining.
With just under nine minutes to play, Wright followed a slashing layup with a three, and Tyler Betsy hit a trey as an 8-0 BYU run stretched the lead to 85-65.
Later, Mann hit a pair of free throws and Queens was down 92-80 with 2:45 left, the closest the Royals would get the rest of the way.