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BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) dribbles the ball in front of Oklahoma State guard Isaiah Coleman (21) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Stillwater, Okla.

Mitch Alcala, AP Photo

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Fans rush the court after an Oklahoma State NCAA college basketball game against BYU, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Stillwater, Okla.

Mitch Alcala, AP Photo

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BYU forward Mihailo Boskovic (5) drives past Oklahoma State guard Jaylen Curry (0) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Stillwater, Okla.

Mitch Alcala, AP Photo

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BYU guard Richie Saunders (15) drives past Oklahoma State guard Vyctorius Miller (5) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 in Stillwater, Okla.

Mitch Alcala, AP Photo

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After Oklahoma State put the finishing touches on its 99-92 Big 12 victory against BYU on Wednesday, the students at Gallagher-Iba Arena rushed the court in celebration.

A month ago — when the Cougars were a Top 10 team with just one loss, to No. 2 UConn — a win might have been a little more worthy of the court storming.

Now, it seems a bit excessive for beating a team ranked No. 16 and sinking that has now lost three games in a row and four of its past five.

AJ Dybantsa scored 36 points to lead BYU and made a career-best five 3-pointers. Richie Saunders added 20 points and Rob Wright had 15 as the Cougars shot 50% from the field (33 of 66) and 43.3% (13 of 30) from the 3-point line.

But offense wasn’t the problem in the Sooner State.

“To start it off we were just too careless with the ball, knowing they are a team that would overhelp to try to turn us over, so that was disappointing,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said on his post-game radio appearance. “That’s how we got in that hole. And in terms of the second half, our defense was atrocious. That was the worst we’ve been defensively and that’s super disappointing because we’ve talked a lot about our defense.

“They’ve got good players like every team in our league, but we did a poor job of containment … 52 points in the paint is a joke. That means our 1-on-1 defense was not good and our ability to help was not good. We got a little too stretched out and that’s something we’ve got to fix.”

The 99 points was a season high allowed by BYU, which struggled to stay in front of any Cowboy who decided to attack the rim. Five players scored in double figures for Oklahoma State (16-6 overall, 4-5 Big 12), led by Anthony Roy with 30. The home team outscored the Cougars 52-36 in the paint, mostly on layups, and made 14 of 18 free throws in the final three minutes to hold off any challenge. The Cowboys scored 58 points in the second half.

“Were just in a major rut right now defensively,” Young said. “We have to find our swagger back on that end of the floor.”

BYU fell behind by double digits midway through the first half, eventually trailing 29-14 with 8:50 to play. Turnovers which led to easy OSU opportunities on the other end was the biggest culprit. But the Cougars finished the half on a 19-4 blitz, with Dybantsa scoring 16 of his 18 first half points in the final eight minutes. His drive and dunk with three seconds left tied the game at 41-all at the break.

BYU took its first lead of the game (46-45) on a 3-pointer from Saunders early in the second half and eventually led 50-45 on a Dybantsa drive with 17:02 to go. The Cowboys regained control with a 9-1 run, Roy’s 3-point play giving his team a 54-51 lead at the 14:54 mark.

The Cougars last lead came with 11:56 remaining on a 3-pointer from Kennard Davis Jr. at 61-60. But Vyctorious Miller, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, had five in a 7-0 run that pushed Oklahoma State out in front 67-61.

From there, the Cowboys started to pull away and when Roy made his fifth 3-pointer, it was 81-69 with 4:10 remaining.

“We’ve just got to figure it out,” Saunders said. “Forty minutes is what it’s all about and we’re finding it for eight minutes at a time. We’ve got to figure out how to play 40 minutes.”

Mired in a season-worst slump, the Cougars (17-5, 5-4) welcome No. 8 Houston into the Marriott Center on Saturday. The Red Cougars roughed up UCF 79-55 on Wednesday, holding the Golden Knights to 19 points in the first half and without a field goal for ten-and-a-half minutes in the second.

“What we’re going through right now is a challenging time, no question about it,” Young said. “But I love the character we’ve got in our locker room. We’ll continue to do some soul searching to dig ourselves out of it.”