BYU Cougars Advance in Big 12 Tournament Behind Historic Game from AJ Dybantsa
In one of the more exciting games in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, the 9th-seed BYU Cougars pulled out a high-scoring 105-91 win over the 15th-seed Kansas State Wildcats, thanks to a masterful performance from star freshman AJ Dybantsa in Kansas City on Tuesday.
Dybantsa Sets Big 12 Tournament Freshman Scoring Record in Win
After the Cougars were dealt a bad blow when star senior Richie Saunders went down with a torn ACL on February 14, it’s been a rough go of things to end the season for BYU. The Cougars went 2-4 over their 6 remaining games to drop down to 10th-place in the loaded Big 12 conference. Thankfully for BYU, their superstar freshman both covered up those previous losses, and made sure this wouldn’t be a short trip to Kansas City this week, as he put together his best game of the season tonight.
Dybantsa would finish the game with 40 points, which set the conference tournament single-game record for most points scored by a freshman. Dybantsa would pass Texas Longhorn legend Kevin Durant for that record and would also become just the second player ever to score 40 points in a Big 12 tournament game.
Perhaps there was a bit of motivation for why Dybantsa had a spectacular night, as he narrowly lost to Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley for the coveted Big 12 Player of the Year award earlier this week. It was also a record-breaking night overall for BYU, as the Cougars 105 total points also set the tournament record for total points as well. BYU shot an impressive 55% from the field on offense in the win.
Kansas State Tumultuous Season Comes to a Close
It might be merciful that the Wildcats’ season came to a close tonight, as this disappointing and rocky season can finally be put to rest. Kansas State didn’t have much to gain even if they were able to beat BYU, as they currently sport a 12-20 record, and had no path to the NCAA tournament outside of a miraculous championship run in Kansas City this week.
The Wildcats’ struggles hit their apex back on February 15, when they fired head coach Jerome Tang after another disappointing season, as well as his post-game comments following the team’s loss to Cincinnati earlier that week. Tang said that his players did not “deserve to wear this uniform, following that 91-62 loss to the Bearcats.
Tang led the Wildcats to an Elite Eight appearance in his first season but was unable to duplicate that success over the next three years. Associate head coach Matthew Driscoll was named interim following Tang’s firing.
On the court tonight, the Wildcats gave a strong final performance despite the loss, with the offense clicking on all cylinders. Kansas State would shoot 51% from the field and 57% from three-point range, as both teams’ defense decided to take an off day. PJ Haggerty was the star of the show for the Wildcats offense, as he scored a team-high 27 points in Kansas State’s final game of the season.
BYU Continues to Build Solid NCAA Tournament Resume
While BYU’s fate was never in question with making the NCAA tournament, there is still a bit of extra padding the Cougars can do in the Big 12 tournament to improve their seeding for the big dance. BYU was projected to snag between a 6 and 7 seed prior to the tournament, with that seed line holding steady following their win against Kansas State.
Although the Cougars do now have a good chance at either securing a 6th-seed if they can beat the 7th-seed West Virginia Mountaineers in the second round of the Big 12 tournament tomorrow night. The winner of that game will then advance to face off against the 2nd-seed Houston Cougars in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday night.
