LAWRENCE, Kansas — ESPN’s “College GameDay,” a one-hour pregame show, is here at Phog Allen Fieldhouse, a historic jewel in the country’s heartland that will host its 1,000th Kansas basketball game.
Cougars on the air
No. 13 BYU (17-3, 5-2) at No. 14 Kansas (15-5, 5-2)
- Saturday, 2:30 p.m. MST
- At Allen Fieldhouse
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: BYU Radio 107.9 FM / BYURadio.org / BYU Radio app
Students have been gathered at the venerable 15,300-seat arena since Tuesday morning in anticipation of what is being billed as the most significant game of the day in the Big 12, maybe even the entire country.
Then, of course, Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. MST showdown on ESPN pitting No. 13 BYU and No. 14 Kansas will feature two freshmen who will almost surely be among the top three players selected in June’s NBA draft — BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson.
The hype for this one has been off the charts for days, even more than Monday when BYU hosted No. 1 Arizona.
Forgive BYU coach Kevin Young for not really noticing. The second-year coach who cut his teeth in the NBA said Friday in his weekly press briefing that he doesn’t “live in a hole” and understands there is “some talk” about the Dybantsa-Peterson duel, but stressed that it will be just one aspect to the game, and not the prevailing one.
“What I’ve noticed being around really good players for my whole life, pretty much, is all that stuff is way bigger of a deal to everyone who is not the player.”
— BYU coach Kevin Young
“I don’t think (them going head to head) is a key to the game at all,” Young said. “I think us executing our game plan, which obviously (Peterson) is a large part of, is wildly important. But they’ve played a lot of games without him, and a lot of other guys have found confidence, and so forth.”
Will the Cougars (17-3, 5-2) and Jayhawks (15-5, 5-2) and their generational talents — the 6-foot-9 Dybantsa from Brockton, Massachusetts, and the 6-6 Peterson from Canton, Ohio — deliver the goods? On the line is a possible double-bye in March’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, with the winner staying in contention for a top-four finish and the loser dropping out — assuming No. 1 Arizona (8-0), No. 8 Iowa State (6-2), No. 10 Houston (6-1) and No. 11 Texas Tech (6-1) maintain or improve upon their current standings.
There’s little margin for error at this point in the regular season, which is two-thirds over.
Young said the matchup of arguably the top two recruits in last year’s signing class hasn’t been mentioned at all in BYU’s camp, let alone by Dybantsa himself.
“What I’ve noticed being around really good players for my whole life, pretty much, is all that stuff is way bigger of a deal to everyone who is not the player,” Young said. “Now, does he want to go out and play well? Yeah, but … he just wants to go win the basketball game. Of course, he wants to play well. But it is not scrutinized in his own mind as probably the media (has done) and makes it out to be.
“But look, I understand it, too,” Young continued. “It’s a big game, right? In terms of narratives, I’ve had a bunch of executives I’ve seen (are going to) Kansas, this and that. So everyone just knows what it is if you’re on the inside. But it doesn’t rule your life. You just go play the game.”
Kansas guard Darryn Peterson shoots during game against Iowa State, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Lawrence, Kan. | AP
Kansas, with a NET ranking of 15, was a 3.5-point favorite as of midday Friday and coming off an 86-62 blasting of rival Kansas State last Saturday in Manhattan, Kansas. Peterson (ankle) did not play in that game, but is expected to play against the Cougars and Dybantsa, a longtime high-profile rival from their high school days.
Before they were teammates in the McDonald’s All-American Game (Peterson was the game’s MVP), Peterson’s Prolific Prep team beat Dybantsa’s Utah Prep team twice during the 2024-25 season, including an 88-86 decision in which Peterson scored 58 points and Dybantsa 49.
BYU, with a NET ranking of 14, is coming off Monday’s heartbreaking 86-83 loss to undefeated Arizona at the Marriott Center in which Dybantsa struggled to put the ball in the hole, going 6 of 24 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range against what Young called “one of, if not the best, defensive teams in the country.”
BYU key: Getting Dybantsa, Davis back on track
Young said Friday before the Cougars departed for Lawrence that Dybantsa has “responded great” in practice and that the Cougars have had two outstanding practices since the loss. He said that aside from the poor shooting, the freshman, who turned 19 on Thursday, did a lot of things well.
“It’s really easy to look at shot-making, particularly for stars. And that’s life, right? You got to make shots to win,” Young said. “There were probably four shots he took that I didn’t love. The rest of them are shots he’s made at an extremely high clip. They didn’t go in. So I don’t necessarily say, ‘Oh, he had a bad game. He didn’t make shots.’”
If the Dybantsa that went 15 of 24 from the field, 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line for a career-high and BYU freshman-record 43 points in the 91-78 win over Utah last Saturday shows up in Lawrence, the Cougars should be in good shape.
The visitors could also use another strong performance from Kennard “Moo” Davis, who had missed 18 straight 3-pointers before draining all five he took in the second half against Arizona. Davis finished with 17 points, his highest output since Dec. 22 against Eastern Washington.
“I think it’s very important (to get Davis going), just for his own confidence, and for our spacing,” Young said. “He needs to do what he does, which is make shots from 3 and play defense at a high level. He’s a big part of what we do, so it was good to see him get on the right track the other night.”
Davis will likely draw the defensive assignment of guarding Peterson, who is averaging 21.6 points per game and shooting 49.3% from the field. He has only played in 10 games, however, as injuries have hampered him throughout the season.
Dybantsa is averaging 23.6 points per game — second in the country entering the weekend’s games — on 53% shooting. He is also averaging 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
“I think he will respond well. I mean, the kid is a gamer,” Young said of the matchup of superstars. “He has been in the spotlight his whole life. He knows what it is.”
Wild scene expected Saturday at the Phog
Adding fuel to the fire, at least for the Jayhawks: Upstart BYU has owned them in Big 12 games, winning 91-57 last year in Provo in the third-worst defeat in KU history, and 76-68 in 2024 — Mark Pope’s final season at BYU — in a stunner at the Phog.
The only player on BYU’s roster with experience at Allen Fieldhouse is Richie Saunders, who scored five points and had four rebounds and a steal in that monumental road win on Feb. 27, 2024.
Young said he has practiced at Allen Fieldhouse when he was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and the team was in the area to play a preseason game in Kansas City.
That game was set up for former Kansas star Joel Embiid to return to his “stomping grounds,” Young said.
What can the Cougars do to not get stomped by the hype surrounding the pivotal Big 12 game?
“Just worry about doing what we have to do,” Young said. “Our guys are mature. I don’t bring it up. … They’re good. We’re good. They have a good player and players. We have a good player and players.
“You want to play in games that matter and are meaningful, and you want people to watch.”
It will be BYU’s first game in a “College GameDay” basketball broadcast, while Allen Fieldhouse will be hosting the ESPN crew for the 13th time.
“We want that (notoriety) because I think it speaks to where our program is,” Young said. “If no one’s talking about you, no one’s there and there are no big games. No one cares. … We need a big win in the Big 12, and all that entails.”
BYU players Richie Saunders, AJ Dybantsa and Robert Wright III huddle around coach Kevin Young as he draws up a play. | BYU Photo
