3 keys to No. 18 BYU basketball’s 90-74 win over Denver

BYU bounced back well after Saturday’s discouraging loss at rival Utah, burying Denver 90-74 Wednesday at the Marriott Center behind a career night from Jaxson Robinson.

The senior scored a career-high 28 points, including an 8 of 15 effort from 3-point range, in the blowout win as No. 18 BYU improved to 9-1 in front of 13,349 in Provo.

Denver dropped to 6-5 and was led by Utahn Jaxon Brenchley, a former Runnin’ Ute who had 21 points, a career-high.

He had 14 points against Mississippi Valley State his freshman season at Utah.

Here are 3 keys to BYU’s win: 

• The Cougars came out firing, and this time a good percentage of their shots went in. They finished 12 of 37 from 3-point range, after going 8 of 24 from deep in the first half. They got a little sloppy with the ball, committing 12 turnovers, but otherwise played a solid game.

• After going 0 for 7 and being held scoreless in the 73-69 loss at Utah, Noah Waterman returned with a vengeance against Denver. He had his first career double-double in the first half alone — 10 points and 11 rebounds — and finished with 22 and 14.

• Denver’s Tommy Bruner entered the game as the third-leading scorer in the country with a 24.0 average but was held to four points in the first half on 2 of 10 shooting. He finished with 15 points, heating up a bit in the second half.