DENVER — Richie Saunders scored 16 points, Egor Demin added 15 points, and sixth-seeded BYU beat 11th-seeded VCU 80-71 in the first round of the East Region on Thursday.Fousseyni Traore scored 13 points and Keba Keita had nine points and nine rebounds for the Cougars (25-9), who will face No. 3 Wisconsin in the second round on Saturday after avoiding a second straight upset as a No. 6 seed.The Badgers beat Montana 85-66 earlier Thursday.Zeb Jackson had a season-high 23 points, and Jack Clark, Joe Bamisile, and Max Shulga finished with 12 points each for VCU (28-7). Bamisile and Shulga, who came into the game averaging 15.1 points each, struggled on offense. Bamisile was 4-for-15 from the field and Shulga 4-for-10.The Cougars surged to an 11-point halftime lead and extended it in the first minutes of the second half.Saunders hit a 3-pointer and then converted a three-point play. Trevin Knell answered Bamisile’s 3-pointer with one from behind the arc. Mawot Mag and Demin scored layups off two VCU turnovers, and Keita tipped in Demin’s miss to make it 54-34 with 15:59 left.