BYU blitzes Arizona State to reach Vegas final

Noah Waterman established career bests of 24 points and six 3-pointers as BYU routed Arizona State 77-49 on Thursday night to advance to the championship game of the Vegas Showdown in Las Vegas.

Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders scored nine points apiece for the Cougars, who are off to a 5-0 for the second time in the past three seasons. BYU amassed a 51-32 rebounding advantage.

The Cougars will face North Carolina State in Friday's title contest.

Jamiya Neal scored 13 points and Frankie Collins added 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Sun Devils (2-2). Bryant Selebangue added 10 points for Arizona State.

The finish was marred when BYU's Atiki Ally Atiki delivered a left-handed punch into the face of Arizona State's Akil Watson with 33.8 seconds remaining. The incident happened after a scramble for a rebound in which the two players tumbled to the ground. Both players were ejected.

BYU shot 40.9 percent from the field, including 14 of 33 (42.4 percent) from 3-point range.

The Sun Devils connected on 33.3 percent of their shots and were a lowly 2 of 20 from behind the arc.

After Arizona State scored the first basket of the second half, Waterman and Knell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Cougars a 38-19 advantage.

Waterman later buried two 3-pointers in a 21-second span as BYU's lead reached 47-28 with 14:54 left. The Cougars' lead reached 20 when Dallin Hall made two free throws to make it 51-31 with 12:52 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Knell and a layup by Jaxson Robinson pushed the lead to 67-40 with five minutes to play.

BYU led by as many as 29 down the stretch in the 50th all-time meeting between the programs. The Cougars lead 28-22.

Waterman scored 13 points in a first half in which both teams shot poorly.

BYU led 32-17 despite making just 11 of 35 shots (31.4 percent), though the Cougars enjoyed a 32-16 rebounding advantage.

The Sun Devils were only 8 of 28 (28.6 percent) from the field, including 1 of 11 from behind the arc. Arizona State also missed all six of its free-throw attempts.

During one stretch, the Sun Devils went 8:56 between points and missed 10 straight field-goal attempts as BYU grabbed a 12-7 lead.