PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Lee Cummard scored 18 points, and Trent Plaisted added 16 to help the Cougars (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) rout overmatched Portland 78-54 on Saturday night.

The game was BYU's first since a 73-63 loss to top-ranked North Carolina a week ago in Las Vegas.

"I'm really proud of our players," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We had really great practices this week as far as effort is concerned, but we didn't execute nearly as well as we usually do. Tonight, we came out and executed well."

The Cougars (6-1), who had more fans in attendance than the host Pilots, never trailed in the game.

"We had a lot of fans here ... but almost anywhere we play we have a lot of fans come out and support us," said point guard Ben Murdock, who had a career-high 10 assists.

A 13-4 late first-half gave BYU a 35-21 lead, and the Cougars opened the second half with a 17-2 run to make it 52-23.

"In the first half, I think our problem was being a little too selfish [on offense]," Murdock said. "That's one of our strengths our ball movement and playing as a team. ... I'd say we played really good for about 20 minutes. But I think we'll get better as the year goes, especially on the road."

Portland (2-6) tried to keep it interesting with a 19-5 spurt that cut it to 57-42. Jared Stohl hit three 3-pointers during the run and finished with 11 points.

BYU hit 53 percent of its field-goal attempts and 41 percent of its 3-pointers. Cummard was 7-of-9 overall and 3-of-4 from 3-point range, while Plaisted was 6-of-8 from the field and also had eight rebounds.

The Cougars limited Portland's top two scorers for the season, Sherrard Watson and Nik Raivio, to a combined 12 points. Watson had eight points on 2-of-9 shooting, and Raivio had four points on 1-for-9 shooting.