PROVO, Utah -- — Gideon George's 20 points helped BYU defeat Portland 71-58 Saturday night.

George added nine rebounds for the Cougars (12-5). Fousseyni Traore scored 12 points and added eight rebounds. Spencer Johnson went 4 of 6 from the field to finish with nine points. The Cougars picked up their seventh straight victory.

The Pilots (8-9) were led in scoring by Kristian Sjolund, who finished with 32 points and six rebounds. Juan Sebastian Gorosito added nine points for Portland. In addition, Michael Meadows finished with eight points and two steals.

BYU got a team-high seven points across the first half from Johnson, but it was only enough to head to the locker room with the score tied at the half 26-26. BYU took the lead for what would be the final time on Traore's layup with 19:48 left in the contest. His team would outscore Portland by 13 points in the final half.

NEXT UP

BYU's next game is Thursday against Loyola Marymount on the road. Portland visits Saint Mary's (Cal) on Saturday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.