PROVO, UTAH –
No. 11 BYU men’s basketball earned a gritty conference win Wednesday night, outlasting TCU at the Marriott Center despite foul trouble, poor shooting and constant defensive pressure from the Horned Frogs.
Richie Saunders picked up his fourth foul just 5:30 into the second half, putting BYU in a difficult position as it trailed at halftime for the first time in Big 12 play this season.
A sense of urgency followed.
That’s when AJ Dybantsa, the five-star freshman, took control. He scored 17 of BYU’s first 25 points in the second half, igniting a stretch that flipped momentum and ultimately decided the game.
“Yeah, it was a gut-check win for our group,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “It felt like anything that could go wrong would go wrong. It felt like our whole team had four fouls. I felt like AJ was going to die out there. He’s obviously a great player, and we need him. He stepped up.”
Before the ESPN2 broadcast, it was reported that Dybantsa — a Boston native — was feeling under the weather. The performance still had the feel of a flu-game moment.
Dybantsa finished with 25 points, shooting 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 5 from 3-point range, while adding six rebounds and one assist. He extended his 20-point scoring streak to 10 games, the second-longest in Big 12 history, trailing only Trae Young.
TCU entered the night as a top-six defensive team in the Big 12 and made scoring difficult throughout. BYU finished with just nine field goals in the first half and shot under 30% from the floor.
The Horned Frogs also dominated bench production, outscoring BYU 35–9.
Where the Cougars made the difference was on the glass. BYU outrebounded TCU 50–35, led by Keba Keita, who pulled down 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards. BYU converted those extra possessions into 23 second-chance points.
TCU held a slight rebounding edge in the first half, but BYU controlled the final 20 minutes, finishing plus-18 on the boards in the second half and plus-15 overall.
“It’s been a message since I got here,” Young said of the 21 offensive rebounds. “Mike Tomlin said something after their playoff loss that stuck with me — you either do or you don’t. There are people that do, and they’re successful. I’m getting tired of talking about rebounding. That’s how you sustain shooting 35% from the field.”
With the win, BYU extended its winning streak to 13 games.
The Cougars face their toughest test yet on the road, traveling to Lubbock, Texas, for a Top-15 matchup against No. 15 Texas Tech on Saturday, Jan. 17. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT, with the game airing on ESPN.
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