As BYU inches closer to becoming a lock for the Big Dance, the Cougars must improve their defense and free-throw shooting to have a strong finish, coach Kevin Young said.

After BYU's 77-56 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night, head coach Kevin Young claimed that BYU was "not a one-trick pony."

The Cougars ended the half on a 10-0 run spearheaded by Richie Saunders, who would not be denied. His persistence in attacking the basket wore down West Virginia's defense and helped open up the offense for BYU and give his team a 25-19 advantage at halftime.

The Cougars are excelling because of open 3a and money-ball shots at the rim as produced by Saunders, Keba Keita and Fouss Traore. Keita has been averaging close to 85% from the field in the past few games.

WVU basketball tried to pick its poison against BYU Saturday night, ultimately falling to the Cougars after a disastrous second half. When game-planning for the Cougars, WVU coach Darian DeVries knew his Mountaineers wouldn’t be able to completely shut down the second-highest scoring offense in the Big 12.

The BYU-West Virginia meeting on Saturday was two types of games in one. The second type of game was the right one for the Cougars. For most of the first half, the Mountaineers had BYU right where they wanted them: In a physical,