Jabri Abdur-Rahim scored 21 points, Bryce Hopkins made his season debut and Providence rolled to an 83-64 victory over BYU on Tuesday night in a Big 12-Big East Battle.
Hopkins, who injured his ACL against Seton Hall on Jan. 3, played 26 minutes against BYU and finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. He received a standing ovation when he left the game with 2:44 remaining. Hopkins averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 14 games last season.
Abdur-Rahim was 5-of-9 shooting and made four of the Friars’ 12 3-pointers. Jayden Pierre and Bensley Joseph added 12 points apiece for Providence (6-3).
Dawson Baker scored 16 points for BYU (6-2). Keba Keita added nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Abdur-Rahim scored 11 first-half points and Joseph added 10 to help Providence, which shot 71% (15 of 21) and made 8 of 12 from long range in the first half, take a 46-34 advantage into the break. Trevin Knell’s 3-pointer capped a 12-7 surge that cut the BYU deficit to 53-46 but they didn’t get closer.
It was the first win for the Friars over BYU in three tries, but the first game since Dec. 21, 1982 in Provo, Utah.
It was also BYU’s first non-conference road game in the Eastern Time Zone since Nov. 15, 2007 when they defeated Princeton 65-56.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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