BYU's Richie Saunders is back to form, much to the chagrin of 23 Wisconsin

For those of you whose corneas weren't permanently seared purple at the sight of the Utah Jazz's NBA Cup surface, you likely enjoyed BYU's vicious romp through a rematch of last year's Round of 32 classic against Wisconsin. Revenge is a dish best served cold, but Richie Saunders and the 9th-ranked BYU Cougars tossed the 23rd-ranked Badgers into the oven, as they caught fire and knocked through 41% of their three-point attempts as a team.

It was grizzly, it was decisive, and it was exactly what fans expected from the talent of this year's squad. If you, much like myself, have abstained from picking up a subscription to Peacock, one of the few thousand 'essential' streaming services assaulting the wallets of the modern consumer, you missed out on a 98-70 demolition of a good Wisconsin team in Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon.

It was a basketball game during the mid-afternoon on a weekday, so few can fault you if your cubicle failed to provide adequate cover for your stealthy iPhone live stream, so I thank you for generously selecting Lawless Republic for your recap fix.

As I said: Richie Saunders lit the flame in this one in a return-to-form effort, rectifying the poor shooting percentages he'd displayed for most of the season to this point, save for a second-half burst against Delaware.

As a whole, Kevin Young's squad has struggled from long range all year -- uncharacteristic for the personnel at the second-year head coach's disposal. Saunders was a 40%+ sniper from last season, but an 0-for-7 showing against UConn had the First-Team All Big 12 inclusion seemingly taking a step back from his career year. 26 points on 5-of-9 shooting from downtown will surely keep the naysayers quiet for a moment.

Let a naysayer know, Richie.

Rob Wright, who wasn't present on last season's Sweet 16 squad, flexed his playmaking prowess against Wiscy as his shot struggled to find its target, as he finished with 10 points on 12 shots -- far from ideal. Slicing, chopping, and weaving through the Badgers' perimeter defences, Wright dished out 11 assists on the night to only two turnovers. BYU took care of the basketball in this one, thanks in large part to Wright's leadership.

Keba Keita was back in this one, returning on a minutes restriction after a frightening injury prematurely cut his night short against UConn.

AJ Dybantsa, of course, was brilliance on the basketball court. Though his shot didn't fall with much consistency, he still put up points incredibly efficiently, getting to the line and tallying 18 points by hunting mismatches and assaulting a Wisconsin resistance with inadequate resources to slow the Cougar attack.

Khadim Mboup even got in on the action, turning a steal near halfcourt into a Eurostep two-handed slam through traffic on the other end. Filthy and dirty, and I love it. He's been fantastic in his role as a backup big, cracking a tighter 8-man Kevin Young rotation for this Delta Center Duel.

BYU advances to 4-1 with the win, losing just a 2-point game to UConn to this point of the year. Weathering the storm of a very challenging non-conference, this blowout win at the expense of Wisconsin should be very encouraging for the team as they face other dangerous Power 5 teams leading into the Big 12 slate.