BYU defeated Kansas State 105-91 on March 10 in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament at the T-Mobile Center, led by AJ Dybantsa’s standout performance.
The win advances BYU to the next round of the tournament and highlights a record-setting night for Dybantsa. His efforts helped secure BYU’s largest margin of victory since January.
“Just a hard-fought game,” said second-year head coach Kevin Young. “Obviously a high-scoring game. They got off to a great start, were shooting the heck out of the 3. thought our guys did a good job of responding. I thought that run we made in the first half was critical for us to obviously cut the lead but then gain momentum. And we were able to get enough stops and string enough stops together there in the second half to get a spread. So it was a good game for us.”
Dybantsa scored 40 points, setting a new Big 12 tournament freshman scoring record previously held by Texas’ Kevin Durant. He shot efficiently from both the field and free throw line, while also contributing nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. With this performance, Dybantsa became only the tenth freshman in NCAA Division I history to score at least 800 points in one season.
Other key contributors included Kennard Davis Jr., Robert Wright III, and Aleksej Kostic, who all reached double figures. Khadim Mboup nearly achieved a double-double with his 14 rebounds and eight points; his rebound total ties for second-most in program history during a conference tournament game.
BYU outshot Kansas State from the field and outrebounded them by eleven boards. The Cougars will face No. 7-seeded West Virginia next on March 11 at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
