Dybantsa, defense lift No. 10 BYU past K-State in Big 12 opener

PROVO — BYU men's basketball clearly understood the assignment against a 39.9% 3-point shooting team from Kansas State that boasted Abdi Bashir Jr., the 48% shooter from deep.

AJ Dybantsa poured in 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, and the 10th-ranked Cougars held the Wildcats to 11.1% from 3-point range to open Big 12 play with an 83-73 win at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.

Robert Wright III added 18 points, four rebounds and five assists for BYU (13-1, 1-0 Big 12), Richie Saunders scored 13, and Keba Keita supplied 11 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Defense led the way for BYU, which outrebounded the Wildcats 47-35 and led by 10 at halftime before stiff-arming the Wildcats with a double-digit lead for much of the second half.

P.J. Haggerty had 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Wildcats (9-5, 0-1 Big 12), and Bashir scored 16 on 5-of-13 shooting — including 3-of-8 from three.

But they were Kansas State's only 3-point makes, as BYU held the Wildcats to 3-of-21 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.

"I think Bashir is one of the best shooters in the country, along with some of the other guys on their roster," said BYU coach Kevin Young, whose team held Kansas State to 1-of-8 from three in the second half. "We've got to pay them the respect they deserve as far as a 3-point shooting team."

Dybantsa opened the game with a turnover and back-to-back missed shots before capping a wild 6-point run in less than 30 seconds to give the Cougars a 20-18 lead seven minutes into the first half.

But the run started on defense, holding the Wildcats scoreless on six attempts, grabbing eight of 12 defensive rebounds, and adding a key block by newcomer Abdullah Ahmed.

After opening the game with a turnover and back-to-back missed shots, Dybantsa drained his next four shot attempts including a 3-pointer with 11:55 left in the half and a tip-in by Keita to lift the Cougars to a 25-20 advantage with 10:59 to go.

Haggerty had 14 points at the break, and the Wildcats scored 11 points off turnovers. But Dybantsa scored 14 with two assists and Saunders dropped 11 with three 3-pointers to help the Cougars shoot 44% from the floor en route to a 45-35 advantage at the break.

Haggerty wouldn't let Kansas State go away in the Wildcats' conference home opener. The 6-foot-4 guard from Crosby, Texas, by way of TCU, Tulsa and Memphis shot 8-of-16 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line, and seemed to find an answer to keep the game with 10 for most of the second half.

"Haggerty is kind of a one-man wrecking crew in and of himself," Young said of the Wildcats' leading scorer who averaged 22.9 points per game en route to a 9-4 start Saturday.

But BYU brought Ahmed off the bench in place of Keita, and the sophomore from Cairo, Egypt who spent the past two seasons with the Westchester Knicks in the NBA G League totaled three of BYU's six blocks to go with 4 points, two rebounds and two assists in a season-high 12 minutes to help contain the Wildcats.

BYU returns home Wednesday to host Arizona State (7 p.m. MST, Peacock) before traveling to in-state rival Utah next Saturday night.

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