BYU needed Robert Wright III to carry the hardest decisions against Ohio State. Four nights later, the Cougars made sure Omaha could not load up on anybody.
No. 25 BYU put six players in double figures, made 16 3-pointers and handed out 22 assists in a 108-67 home-opening win Friday at the Marriott Center. Wright led the scoring again with 19 points, but this one belonged to the shape around him. Tyler Betsey and Collin Chandler scored 18 apiece, Bruce Branch III added 17, Jaxon Kohler had 11 and Jake Wahlin scored 10 off the bench.
The 41-point margin will not follow BYU into Big 12 play. The useful parts might. The Cougars turned stops into a 31-0 fast-break edge, committed only eight turnovers and kept moving the ball after the first advantage appeared.
That is a better early-season signal than 108 by itself.
BYU removed the suspense before halftime
Betsey opened the scoring with a 3-pointer. He made another before four minutes had passed, and Chandler’s step-back three pushed BYU ahead 13-4 at the first media timeout.
Omaha never tied the game and never led.
The Mavericks briefly cut the margin to 25-13 midway through the half. Kohler answered from deep, Betsey made his third three, and BYU stretched the lead to 33-13. Betsey’s fourth outside make and a Wright three-point play made it 43-18. The Cougars reached halftime up 56-30 after shooting 60.6 percent overall and making eight of 15 from deep.
The separation was not only shooting. BYU had already made Omaha defend the whole possession. Chandler attacked the space inside a closeout. Wright reached the rim. Kohler worked through the paint. Offensive rebounds gave the Cougars another action when the first shot missed.
Omaha entered the night after scoring 102 against Division III Cornell College. That opener did not prepare the Mavericks for BYU’s size or the speed of the next pass. The Cougars took the first clean look when it was available, then kept searching when it was not.
The result was a first half without the rescue job that defined BYU’s exhibitions and the Ohio State opener. The Ohio State recap showed what this offense can become after it solves a defense. Friday showed what happens when it begins with the answer.
Six scorers made one offense
Six players reached double figures for BYU for the first time since December 2024, according to the official recap. Their lines did not come from six players taking turns in isolation.
| BYU scorer | Points | FG | 3PT | Rebounds | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Wright III | 19 | 8-11 | 1-3 | 1 | 1 |
| Collin Chandler | 18 | 6-7 | 3-4 | 4 | 5 |
| Tyler Betsey | 18 | 6-8 | 6-8 | 1 | 1 |
| Bruce Branch III | 17 | 5-9 | 2-4 | 6 | 1 |
| Jaxon Kohler | 11 | 4-10 | 1-3 | 7 | 2 |
| Jake Wahlin | 10 | 4-5 | 1-2 | 2 | 2 |
Chandler is the cleanest example. He scored 18 on seven shots and led BYU with five assists. Late in the second half, Wright kicked the ball to Chandler, Chandler moved it to Branch, and Branch made the three. Chandler then scored three straight baskets during an 11-0 run that pushed BYU to 99.
He did not have to choose between creating and finishing. Omaha’s defense had already moved by the time the choice reached him.
Branch gave the lineup another connector. His 17 points came with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Wahlin supplied 10 points and two blocks in 17 minutes. Kohler grabbed seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Khadim Mboup led BYU with eight rebounds in 16 reserve minutes.
Wright still mattered. He started the second half with a steal and finish, then kept the transition game moving. His 19 points came on 11 field-goal attempts with no turnovers. BYU did not need another 33-point night because Wright’s control gave everybody else room to play quickly.
That is the difference between having several scorers and building a shared offense. Several scorers can wait for touches. A shared offense gives each player a job before the ball arrives.
Betsey turned help defense into six threes
Betsey made six of eight from deep and tied his career high with 18 points. He reached double figures for the second straight game after scoring 15 against Ohio State.
His value was not hidden. Omaha had to protect the lane against Wright, Chandler and Branch. Kohler and Mboup occupied bodies near the rim. Every extra step toward the ball gave Betsey another window.
He punished those windows immediately.
Betsey made four threes in the first half. Early in the second, he blocked a shot and made another three on the next BYU possession. His sixth outside make pushed the lead to 70-40 with 15:02 left.
The six makes are not a reasonable nightly expectation. The quality of the chances is more useful. Betsey took eight threes inside an offense that produced 22 assists and only eight turnovers. He was not launching over a set defender because the possession had stalled. He was finishing movement that began somewhere else.
Ohio State had already learned the same lesson. Betsey made four of five from deep in the opener while Wright controlled the ball. Through two regular-season games, he has made 10 of 13 from three. That rate will cool. Defenses still have to decide how much space they can risk giving him.
If they stay attached, Wright and Chandler get a cleaner lane. If they help, Betsey gets the shot Omaha kept surrendering.
The 31-0 transition margin started with restraint
BYU’s 31-0 fast-break advantage is the loudest team number in the box score. It came from more than running.
The Cougars turned the ball over eight times. Omaha committed 12. BYU made six steals and blocked six shots, then converted those openings before the Mavericks could build their half-court defense.
A team cannot run if it is constantly retrieving the ball after its own mistake. BYU protected the first pass, found the middle and let Wright, Chandler and Branch make decisions against a retreating defense. Omaha did not record a fast-break point.
The transition gap also explains why BYU’s 55.7 percent shooting should not be read as 40 minutes of difficult shot-making. The Cougars created layups, early paint touches and rhythm threes before the defense was organized. They scored 46 points in the paint and 19 off turnovers.
The season-opening win over Ohio State came with eight turnovers too. That repeat matters. BYU has put a large offensive burden on a new rotation without turning either regular-season game into a loose-possession contest.
The concern is what happened when Omaha did settle. The Mavericks shot 50 percent in the second half and made five of eight threes after halftime. Deke Thompson scored 17 points and made four outside shots. Omaha scored 37 in the second half, seven more than it managed in the first.
Some of that came after the game had separated and BYU changed combinations. It still keeps the final from becoming a defensive certificate. The Cougars won the possession race and the shot-quality race. They did not shut down every Omaha action for 40 minutes.
The glass gave BYU another source of pressure
BYU won the rebound count 46-27 and grabbed 15 offensive boards. Those extra chances produced a 22-7 edge in second-chance points.
The distribution mattered as much as the total. Mboup had eight rebounds, Kohler seven, Branch six and Chandler four. Six Cougars collected at least one offensive rebound.
That is the frontcourt answer BYU needed after UNLV won the exhibition rebound count. Against Ohio State, the Cougars reached something close to even. Against Omaha, they controlled the glass without leaving the work to one center.
The offensive rebounds also kept BYU’s shooting from becoming a one-note story. Sixteen made threes will get the attention, but the Cougars scored 46 in the paint and recovered 15 of their misses. Omaha had to protect the arc, stop the ball and finish the possession against a larger group. It rarely did all three.
Kohler shot 4 of 10 and Mboup 2 of 6, so this was not a dominant finishing night for every big. They still affected the game by keeping misses alive and occupying Omaha’s rebounders. Wahlin’s 4-of-5 reserve line gave BYU a more efficient interior and midrange option when Young changed the frontcourt.
That is a useful November development. The Cougars did not need one lineup to solve every problem.
What the score does and does not prove
BYU is 2-0 with wins over Ohio State and Omaha. The Cougars scored 60 in the second half of the opener, then reached 56 by halftime Friday. They have committed eight turnovers in both games.
The offense has already shown two different winning shapes.
Against Ohio State, Wright controlled a close game and the starters scored 86 of 94 points. Against Omaha, six players reached double figures and the bench added 25. Chandler shifted from a 5-of-14 opener to a 6-of-7 home debut. Betsey kept punishing help. Branch filled several columns. Wahlin gave the reserve unit real scoring.
Omaha is not a Big 12 measuring stick. The Mavericks could not match BYU’s size, transition speed or number of playable scorers. A 41-point home win should look comfortable.
The comfort still had to be built. BYU did it with 22 assists, eight turnovers, 15 offensive rebounds and a defense-to-transition chain that produced 31 unanswered fast-break points. Those are habits, not decorations on the final score.
The remaining question is whether BYU can keep the ball moving when the threes stop falling. The Cougars made 16 of 35 Friday. A tougher opponent will close more windows and force Betsey off the line. The 46 paint points and 22 assists suggest another route exists. November is when Young has to make it dependable.
BYU hosts Queens on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. Mountain in the Marriott Center. ESPN+ will stream the game, and BYUradio has the radio call. The permanent men’s basketball schedule carries the official event links, while the current roster tracks the rotation.
Friday did not tell us how BYU will handle a Big 12 defense. It showed that Wright does not need to score 33 for the offense to have a clear owner. He can make the first decision, and five teammates can make Omaha regret the next one.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: stable event 25257 for the completed status, stable event ID, official recap ID, WMT match ID, date and Marriott Center venue.
- BYU Athletics: official 108-67 recap for the game sequence, six double-figure scorers, home-opener streak and Queens follow-up.
- BYU Athletics: official box score and WMT full game record for the period splits, team totals, player lines, attendance and possession details.
- Omaha Athletics: opponent recap and opponent box score for independent confirmation of the final, team totals, Thompson’s line and Omaha’s second-half response.
- NCAA game summary for independent confirmation of the final and period scores.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Ohio State recap, men’s basketball schedule, roster and basketball coverage.
- BYU brand colors and University of Nebraska Omaha brand colors for the verified palettes used in the original matchup art. No official marks are reproduced.
