How Dybantsa’s resilience led BYU to Large 12-opening win over Kansas State

MANHATTAN, Kan. — In regards to the fourth or fifth time that A.J. Dybantsa crashed to the ground, and he regarded up at an official in each shock and useless, one of the vital proficient freshmen in school basketball should have lastly discovered that he wasn’t going to get a name.

Welcome to life within the Large 12 Convention.

Dybantsa nonetheless poured in 24 factors whereas main No. 10 BYU to an 83-73 victory over Kansas State on Saturday, the primary true highway sport for the Cougars all season. However he did it whereas committing seven turnovers and exhibiting seen frustration all through a lot of the primary half, a studying expertise if ever there was one for the potential No. 1 choose in subsequent yr’s NBA draft.

“Undoubtedly,” Dybantsa stated, “coach was telling me it was going to be extra bodily than our nonconference video games.”

Few leagues are as rough-and-tumble because the Large 12, however it’s additionally price declaring that Dybantsa would not even flip 19 till later this month, and the swingman might simply as nicely be taking part in his senior season of highschool; he reclassified to this yr’s freshman class a few years in the past, when it already was clear that Dybantsa’s sport — if not his physique — was prepared for the large time.

Even Dybantsa acknowledged Saturday the necessity to spend some extra time within the weight room.

Kansas State did all the things it might to muddy up the sport, rotating an exhausting variety of our bodies onto the 6-foot-9 ahead, who discovered himself in a little bit of foul bother due to it. BYU coach Kevin Younger wound up sitting Dybantsa for a couple of minutes — a transfer that he sometimes doesn’t make — not solely to maintain him from selecting up one other foul however to provide him an opportunity to reset.

“I belief all our guys in that state of affairs,” Younger stated, “however him specifically, I belief him when it comes to his IQ for the sport.”

The nation’s second-leading scorer, Dybantsa was coming off maybe one of the best efficiency of his younger profession, when he scored 33 factors with 10 rebounds and 10 assists towards Japanese Washington. It was solely the second 30-10-10 triple-double within the historical past of the Large 12, and it was a efficiency that underscored that the McDonald’s All-American is rather more than only a scorer.

Towards the Wildcats, Dybantsa complemented his 24 factors with eight rebounds and three assists.

The Cougars wanted all of them, too, as a result of P.J. Haggerty answered Dybantsa almost bucket for bucket for Kansas State. The nation’s No. 3 scorer, Haggerty scored 24 factors with seven rebounds and 6 assists.

However whereas Dybantsa was doing his work with a fluid inside-outside sport that has been making professional scouts drool, the Wildcats guard was placing up factors by driving by way of contact to the basket. And that highlighted the distinction between a first-year participant and a fourth-year junior, each when it comes to their physicality and high-level school expertise.

“These are two actually good gamers on the market,” stated Kansas State coach Jerome Tang, who recruited Dybantsa closely earlier than shedding out on him to BYU. “I believed they matched their stat strains. It was simply a kind of issues.”

The distinction within the sport itself was their supporting casts. Dybantsa acquired 18 factors from Robert Wright III and large video games from Richie Saunders and Keba Keita, whereas Haggerty’s finest wingman — Abdi Bashir Jr. — was largely shut out within the second half.

“You realize, I have been watching A.J. since he was within the seventh grade. Beloved him and his household. Had a good time recruiting him,” Tang stated. “I’ve watched his video games this season, and he is been one of the vital environment friendly gamers. He was very environment friendly once more.”

So environment friendly that Dybantsa scored these 24 factors on simply 15 pictures.

The Cougars have hung round tenth within the AP High 25 all season — they had been eighth within the pre-season ballot — however could possibly be on the rise as they start churning by way of Large 12 play. They’ve received 10 straight since their solely loss, a nip-and-tuck two-point setback towards No. 4 UConn again in November, their longest successful streak since Jimmer Fredette’s senior season in 2010.

That yr, BYU rose as excessive as No. 3 within the ballot in late February.

If the Cougars are going to achieve these heights, Dybantsa might be an enormous motive for it.