Back on track: No. 22 BYU ends four-game skid, tops Baylor
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- BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) drives to the basket after getting past Baylor guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Waco, Texas.
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- BYU forward AJ Dybantsa dunks in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Baylor Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Waco, Texas.
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- Baylor guard Isaac Williams IV (10) drives to the basket as BYU’s Khadim Mboup, left, defends in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Waco, Texas.
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- BYU guard Robert Wright III works for a shot against Baylor’s Caden Powell, rear, and Tounde Yessoufou, right, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Waco, Texas.
At Baylor in pretty much a must-win game on Tuesday, BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young solved his team’s depth problem with two moves: Giving versatile sophomore Khadim Mboup more minutes and never taking AJ Dybantsa or Rob Wright out.
Mboup provided much needed energy, defense and rebounding in a season-high 27 minutes in the Cougars’ 99-94 victory against the Bears. Dybantsa and Wright — who both played all 40 minutes — scored 36 and 30 points, respectively, the first time a BYU duo tallied 30 points each in more than 40 years.
The victory broke a four-game losing streak for BYU, the longest in Young’s two-year tenure in Provo.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Wright, who played for Baylor as a freshman last season. The home crowd booed or chanted “Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” every time he touched the ball, but Wright turned in a terrific performance, adding four rebounds, three assists and four steals to his career high scoring night.
“It was definitely what I expected,” Wright said when asked about the reception from the Baylor fans. “I remember it was like that when we play LJ (former Baylor guard LJ Cryer, who transferred to Houston) last year here. I think I handled it pretty well.”
Dybantsa added, “I came in wanting to get Rob the win, just like I wanted to get the win for Richie (Saunders) and Keba (Keita) at Utah. He (Wright) was getting booed so I was trying to get him going early. To get him going early, it was a good feeling.”
Baylor’s stars did their thing, too, with freshman Tounde Yessoufou going for 37 points and Cameron Carr adding 24. But BYU had huge advantages in two very important categories. The Cougars outscored the Bears 24-0 in points off turnovers until the final minutes (finishing 24-6) and attacked the rim to end up with a 64-40 advantage in points in the paint.
“It’s been tough sailing for us,” Young said. “We just haven’t been able to put enough things together, so for our guys to show the resiliency, especially on the road and especially — I’ve had to say this all too often but when guys are having career nights — and the emotion of Rob coming back here and all the stuff that went into this game, and given where we’re been, it was just great to see our guys pull it out.”
Baylor came out on fire and shot 70% from the field for much of the first half, including a stretch of making 11 of 13 field goals against a lifeless BYU defense. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Carr and Yessoufou gave the home team a 33-21 lead with 8:23 to play in the half. That’s when Mboup came in to invigorate the Cougars, who roared back into the game behind Dybantsa and Wright. Those two players combined for 18 of BYU’s final 20 points of the half.
Dybantsa scored 18 and Wright 15 in the first half that ended in a 41-41 tie.
Baylor took a 48-43 lead early in the second half but the Cougars erupted on a 15-2 run, keyed by a block and a steal from Saunders that both resulted in transition baskets. Mboup scored his only bucket of the game after an offensive rebound and Saunders put in a jumper for a 58-50 BYU lead with 14 minutes remaining. The lead ballooned to 17, 83-66, with five minutes to go when Kennard Davis Jr. converted a 3-point play to cap a 13-2 burst.
There were some uncomfortable moments down the stretch as the Cougars fell back into their bad defensive habits and took some questionable shots. The Bears scored 28 points in the final five minutes of the game and three times cut the deficit to four points in the last 30 seconds. But BYU managed to make enough free throws to hold on for the win.
“It goes without saying we needed it (the win) extremely bad,” Young said. “Every season is different and there’s adversity. You’re not going to steamroll, especially not through the Big 12. Did I think we’d ever get to a point where we’d drop four straight? I did not.
“It’s a long season for a reason. You’ve got to ride the wave and I’m proud of the way the guys gutted this out and showed up, especially at the beginning when we had to find the right combination of players. Different guys stepped up and that makes it even more rewarding for our team.”
Saunders finished with 15 points and nine rebounds and Mboup contributed a career-high 10 boards. The Cougars shot 55.9% from the field despite making only 3 of 19 from the 3-point line.
The last time a pair of BYU players scored 30 or more points each in a game was on Jan. 4, 1983 when Devin Durrant (34 points) and Brett Applegate (32) did the trick in a 113-105 win against Utah.
BYU (18-6 overall, 6-5 Big 12) returns to Provo and will host Colorado on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.). Cougar legend Jimmer Fredette will have his jersey retired at halftime.
