Cougars make it 10 straight with 83-73 victory at Kansas State
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- Kansas State guard Nate Johnson, left, tries to steal the ball from BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
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- BYU forward Keba Keita (13) puts up a shot over Kansas State forward Khamari McGriff (21) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
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- Kansas State guard Nate Johnson (34) looks to pass under pressure from BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
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- BYU center Abdullah Ahmed (34) tries to block a shot by Kansas State guard P.J. Haggerty during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
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- BYU head coach Kevin Young questions a call during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas State, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Manhattan, Kan.
The first weekend of Big 12 play was rough for a number of road teams.
No. 10 BYU gave away too many turnovers (19) and struggled to adjust to the rugby scrum that officials decided Saturday’s first true road contest at Kansas State was going to be.
If defense and rebounding were 1 and 1A on the BYU game plan, the players were clearly paying attention, keeping the Cougars in front for 33:31 in a 83-73 victory over the Wildcats in Manhattan, Kan.
With the win, BYU (13-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12) has prevailed in 10 straight games for the first time since 2010-11.
What did Cougar coach Kevin Young like most about the victory?
“I’m not trying to be smart here, but just winning, finding a way to win a conference game on the road,” Young said.
BYU dominated the rebounding battle 47-35, led by Keba Keita’s warrior-like double double (10 points and 16 rebounds, eight on the offensive end).
“We’re not really a high turnover team, but give Kansas State credit,” Young said. “They were coming in super physical and the only way we were able to negate that was our offensive rebounding. That’s probably what I’m most proud of, outside of just getting the win. We talk a lot about offensive rebounding.”
On the defensive end, the Cougars challenged one of the nation’s top 3-point shooting teams and forced a 3 for 21 performance (14%) from beyond the arc by the Wildcats.
Freshman AJ Dybantsa was obviously frustrated with the officiating but still led the Cougars with 24 points (16 in the first half) to overcome a career-high seven turnovers. Robert Wright III had 18 points and five assists and Richie Saunders finished with 13 points.
PJ Haggarty led Kansas State (9-5, 0-1) with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Abdi Bashir added 16 points on 3 of 8 from the 3-point line. The Wildcats average 10.8 3-pointers made per game but aside from Bashir the rest of the team was 0-for-13 from behind the arc.
“I think it isn’t rocket science, but how do you guard Haggarty and how do you guard the 3-point line?” Young said. “I thought our guys did a good job of toeing the line, mixing up our coverages and not helping too much. I thought our attention to detail in terms of what we were actually asking our guys to do relative to our coverages was good.”
BYU led 45-35 at halftime and maintained at least a six-point edge throughout the second half.
Kansas State cut the deficit to six with two Haggarty drives to open the second half but the Cougars couldn’t be caught. A Wright layup gave BYU a 63-52 lead with 9:37 to play and Mahaila Boskovic, who scored nine points off the bench, dropped in a 3-pointer for a 66-54 advantage with 6:41 remaining.
Haggarty made a pair of free throws with under four minutes to go to get the home team within eight, 74-66, but Dybantsa helped break the Wildcats press with a layup and Saunders scored on a drive for a 78-66 advantage with 3:18 to play. The Cougars made 5 of 6 from the line from there to hold on for the win.
“Coach told us it would be way more physical than in the non-conference and I saw that first hand,” Dybantsa said. “Seven turnovers is unacceptable for me. I think they were getting into my body a little bit. But I’m a wizard in the weight room. I’m gonna get stronger. We will continue to practice and be better in the future.”
Kansas State got up early on a couple of Bashir 3-pointers, but Dybantsa was doing good work and scored six points in a 9-0 BYU run, which also included an Abdullah Ahmed block that turned into a 3-point play for Boskovic for a 23-18 lead with 11:55 left in the first half.
The Cougars held the Wildcats without a field goal for nearly seven minutes and led by ten, 43-33, on a Saunders triple with 1:10 left. Boskovic contributed a huge block with under 30 seconds to play and BYU took a 45-35 lead at the break.
In other Big 12 games on Saturday, No. 8 Houston trailed at Cincinnati for much of the contest before finishing with a 67-60 win; UCF upset No. 17 Kansas 81-75 in Orlando; homestanding TCU knocked off Baylor 69-63 in Fort Worth; No. 15 Texas Tech routed Oklahoma State 102-80 in Lubbock; No. 1 Arizona won on the road at Utah 97-78 in Salt Lake City and Colorado outscored Arizona State 95-89 in Tempe.
BYU returns to the Marriott Center on Wednesday to face Arizona State for a 7 p.m. MT tip, with the game streamed on Peacock.
