Logan Johnson scored 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting to lead No. 17 Saint Mary’s to a 71-65 victory over BYU on Saturday night in West Coast Conference play at Moraga, Calif.
Aidan Mahaney had 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Mitchell Saxen added 13 points for the Gaels (24-5, 13-1 WCC), who won for the 15th time in their past 16 games.
Fousseyni Traore scored 16 points for BYU (16-14, 6-9), which lost its fourth straight game and seventh in its past nine. Spencer Johnson and Rudi Williams had 12 points apiece, and Noah Waterman tallied 11 for the Cougars.
Logan Johnson topped the 25-point mark for the third time in four games for the first-place Gaels, who have a one-game lead over Gonzaga with two WCC games to play. Saint Mary’s won the first matchup with the Zags and the rematch is next Saturday in Spokane, Wash.
Saint Mary’s shot 50 percent from the field, including 4 of 13 from 3-point range.
The Cougars made 42.1 percent of their shots and were 9 of 19 from behind the arc.
BYU was down 13 points with under eight minutes to play before Richie Saunders made two 3-pointers and Dallin Hall hit one during a 16-4 burst. Traore capped it with a layup to bring the Cougars within 63-62 with 1:59 remaining.
Saint Mary’s responded swiftly as Logan Johnson scored on a driving hoop with 1:35 left and Mahaney drained a 3-pointer with 46.8 seconds remaining to make it 68-62.
Johnson split two free throws with 18 seconds left to make it a seven-point margin and the Gaels closed it out to improve to 15-2 at home.
BYU trailed by two five-plus minutes into the second half before Mahaney delivered a long left-handed bounce pass that Logan Johnson received in stride and converted into a fast-break layup. Mahaney added a 3-pointer with 13:19 left and made two free throws 41 seconds later to give the Gaels a 50-41 lead.
The Cougars moved within six on Waterman’s three-point play with 10:50 remaining before Logan Johnson scored three baskets during a 7-0 run as Saint Mary’s took a 59-46 advantage with 7:41 to play.
Logan Johnson scored 14 first-half points as Saint Mary’s led 33-27 at the break. Spencer Johnson tallied 12 in the half for the Cougars.
–Field Level Media
