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BYU guard Richie Saunders, right, goes to the hoop as Utah forward Kendyl Sanders (13) defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Salt Lake City.

Rick Egan, AP Photo

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BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) goes to the hoop as Utah forward Seydou Traore, left, defends during the first half of an NCAA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Salt Lake City.

Rick Egan, AP Photo

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BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, right, collides with Utah forward Keanu Dawes (8) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Salt Lake City.

Rick Egan, AP Photo

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Cougars wanted to do it for Richie.

Richie Saunders, BYU’s heart-and-soul senior, had never beaten Utah in Salt Lake City during his career.

Before Saturday’s showdown with the Utes on Saturday, Cougar coach Kevin Young made a plea to three of his players who only knew about the rivalry by reputation.

“I pulled Rob (Wright III), Moo (Kennard Davis Jr.) and AJ (Dybantsa) aside separately and whispered to them ‘Hey, you guys didn’t grow up hating Utah or having a rivalry but this game means a lot to our university. It means a ton to Richie and we want to send him out with a win.'”

“We said that we wanted to come up here and win this game for Richie, Keba (Keita), JMac (Jared McGregor) and Dawson (Baker). I thought Richie and Keba’s will in that game was probably the difference.”

Saunders did plenty of his own work, leading No. 9 BYU to a down-to-the-wire 89-84 victory in front of a sellout crowd (15,558) at the Huntsman Center with his best game against Utah.

The Cougars’ Tater Tot King scored 17 of his team-leading 24 points in the second half and tied a career-high with 14 rebounds, six on the offensive end. His huge offensive board led to a Rob Wright III basket for an 85-80 lead with 1:49 to play and Saunders put the game away by draining two large free throws with 8.1 seconds left for the final margin.

“It feels amazing,” Saunders said. “I’ve come up short in overtime. Lost by one. Lost by two. To be able to finish this is amazing.”

BYU led by just two, 45-43, at halftime but a 12-2 run out of the break put the Cougars up 57-45 at the 15:38 mark, six points coming from Saunders. A Saunders 3-point play and a Dybantsa jumper pushed the BYU advantage to 13 points, 69-56, with 10:39 remaining but an inspired Utah team and poor free throw shooting prevented the visitors from closing the door.

The Utes got to within three, 76-73, with 5:32 to play and two free throws from Don McHenry cut the margin to just one, 81-80, with 3:15 on the clock.

Wright scored four points, including the basket after Saunders’ offensive rebound, and fed Keita for a layup with 1:08 to play for an 87-82 lead. Nursing an 87-84 advantage in the final 15 seconds, Keita and Davis trapped Terrance Brown in the corner and forced a turnover, which led to Saunders’ game-clinching free throws.

Despite a Utah defense designed to slow him down, freshman AJ Dybantsa scored 20 points for the ninth straight game and added six rebounds and four assists.

“That was crazy,” Dybantsa said of playing in his first BYU-Utah game. “That was really hostile. That was the most hostile environment I have ever been a part of. It was a ‘Welcome to the Big 12’ moment for me.”

Wright had a terrific first half (15 points) and made all the right plays down the stretch, finishing with 23 points and six assists with just one turnover in 38 minutes on the court.

“He has great poise,” Young said. “His decision making is something that we have talked about a lot. He had one turnover and almost played the entire game. They were doing a lot with AJ to get the ball out of his hands and I can see why you would do that but we have a lot of guys on our team that can make plays. Rob stepped up and delivered.”

Keita, who sat out BYU last game due to an ankle sprain, was saddled with foul trouble and played just 21 minutes but contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and one big block. The Cougars left 14 points on the floor due to missed free throws (10 misses, two of them one-and-ones), finishing 19 of 29 (66%) from the stripe.

Brown and McHenry scored 25 and 21 points, respectively, for Utah (8-8 overall, 0-3 Big 12), going 16 of 38 (42%) from the field.

BYU (15-1, 3-0) has won 12 straight games and will host TCU in the Marriott Center on Wednesday at 9 p.m. MT, with the game televised on ESPN2.