It has taken BYU center Fousseyni Traore some time to get back to form after missing the Cougars’ final seven nonconference games with a hamstring injury.
But heading into No. 22 BYU’s game against No. 23 Oklahoma on Tuesday in Norman, Okla., Traore appears to finally be back to 100 percent.
Traore is coming off a 24-point, nine-rebound performance in the Cougars’ 83-73 win at West Virginia on Saturday — his first start since suffering the injury in late November.
Traore started in place of Aly Khalifa, who missed Saturday’s game due to illness.
In BYU’s previous game, an 84-72 win over Texas, Traore had 16 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes.
Traore’s interior presence has also helped the Cougars on the perimeter.
BYU (16-5, 4-4 Big 12) is leading the nation with 12.1 made 3-pointers per game.
“We think it’s something that’s really important for us,” Cougars coach Mark Pope said. “Philosophically, it’s really important for us to try and stretch teams to guard 27 by 50 feet. Most teams make you guard by 21 by 50 or 18 by 50. We’re trying to get it to 27 by 50. It’s an extra 250 feet that you have to guard and with the personnel that we have and the way we play in our skill set, we need to work hard to continue to try and make teams guard in space.”