FIRST OF ALL
Saturday will be the first all-meeting between the schools that are separated by 2,447 miles or a 35 hour drive according to Google Maps. It will also be the Cougars’ first game against a school that is a current member of the Patriot League since December 28, 1973, a 81-72 win over Army.
YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME
No. 8 BYU opened the season with a 71-66 victory over Villanova on Monday evening at the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas. With the win over the Wildcats, the all-time seres is now tied 2-all with both of the Cougars’ wins coming at neutral sites.
In his official collegiate debut, AJ Dybantsa scored a team-high 21 points for the Cougars, going 9-of-18 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3-point range and 2-of-7 from the free throw line as the Cougars won their seventh-straight season opener. Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III also reached double figures for the Cougars, finishing with 15 and 14, respectively.
In the win, BYU shot 39.4 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from the free throw line and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. It won a game for a third time since November 2022 when making five or fewer 3-pointers. In fact, two of those three wins have come during Kevin Young’s two seasons in Provo.
After leading by 10 at halftime, BYU saw itself trailing by two, 59-57, with 6:28 remaining the game following a 3-pointer from Bryce Lindsay. The Cougars got stops on the defensive end while Dybantsa and Wright III would combine to score eight of the next 10 points for the Cougars over a five-minute period to lead 67-59 with under two minutes left in regulation. Saunders sealed the victory from the free throw line with a pair of freebies after the Wildcats had made it a two-possession game in the final seconds.
KYU
BYU head coach Kevin Young went 15-2 at the Marriott Center in his first season in Provo, tied for the most wins at home by a first-year head coach in program history. Under his guidance, BYU finished the regular season on an eight-game win streak with four of those victories coming in Provo including a 91-57 victory over No. 23 Kansas in front of a sold-out Marriott Center.
