Every once in a while, though, Young can tell a good one.

After No. 11 BYU held off TCU 76-70 Wednesday night at the Marriott Center, Young addressed the great debate: Freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa with long sleeves under his jersey or Dybantsa without the sleeves?

Dybantsa, who was feeling ill, started the game with long sleeves under his jersey but after a slow start, removed them and finished with 25 points.

“I don’t have to say a lot to AJ,” Young said. “AJ is a great player. Even on an off night, the guy still looks like an all-world guy, a generational type guy, even when he’s sick. He threw me off with the long sleeves. I’ll be honest, that threw me off. I don’t like it when guys just do random stuff like that. I’m very routine driven. I was like, ‘What’s happening right now with the sleeves?'”

After a brief pause, Young shifted into story mode.

“So I’m going to have to do a quick story. I know it’s midnight and everyone wants to leave but we’re here. Dating back to my high school days, shout out to Brian Flanagan, my teammate, who had a chipped front tooth. He hadn’t worn a mouthpiece the whole season, he shows up to the state tournament wearing a mouthpiece. My coach is like, ‘Your tooth is already chipped.’ So that’s how I feel about that.”

Dybantsa scored 17 of his points during an eight-minute stretch in the second half where the Cougars came from behind to take the lead against TCU for good.

“He’s a tough-minded kid,” Young said. “He didn’t really say a whole lot to anyone about him not feeling great. He just got into that mode that great players are able to get into.”

Dybantsa scored at least 20 points for the 10th straight game, the sixth BYU player to accomplish that feat joining Jimmer Fredette, Danny Ainge, Michael Smith (twice), Devin Durrant and Tyler Haws (twice).

Dybantsa also moved past Durrant on the BYU freshman season scoring list into 10th place with 392 points.

More stats

Senior guard Richie Saunders moved into the all-time top 20 in career scoring at BYU with 1,421 points. He passed Jay Cheesman and Roland Monson.

Backup bigs

Keba Keita was in foul trouble and Abdullah Ahmed was unavailable, so the Cougars had to turn to Mihailo Boskovic and Khadim Mboup against TCU to man the middle.

“I thought they were tremendous,” Young said. “We don’t win that game without Mi-High (Boskovic) and Khadim. They combined for 12 rebounds, nine points and a block. I thought their activity was good. I thought Khadim was really good. The guy can rebound, man. He’s got nose for the ball. And Mi-High hit the big three when we were kind of struggling. It was really good to see guys coming off the bench and be able to give us a lift.”

Scouting Report

Texas Tech won the last meeting with BYU 72-67 in Provo last January. Only two players remain in Lubbock who played in that game but both JT Toppin and Christian Anderson are elite, explosive scorers.

Toppin only managed five points against the Cougars last time out but was named the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2025. This season, Toppin, a 6-foot-9 post, is averaging 21.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game while shooting 56% from the field. In the Red Raiders’ 88-74 home victory against Utah on Wednesday, Toppin charted his sixth straight double-double with 31 points and 13 rebounds along with seven assists.

Anderson, a speedy 6-3 guard, posted 26 points on 6 of 11 from the 3-point line and dished out 10 assists for his own double-double.

Washington State transfer LeJuan Watts (13 points per game), UNC-Greensboro transfer Donovan Atwell (11.8) and talented freshman Jaylen Petty (9.2) round out a very good starting five. There isn’t a lot of depth but those first five will be a formidable task for BYU’s defense.

Texas Tech’s three non-conference losses were to No. 14 Illinois, No. 1 Purdue and No. 17 Arkansas. The Red Raiders are 3-1 in Big 12 play, with the one loss at No. 7 Houston by four points.

“It’ll be a great one, another opportunity to grow,” Saunders said. “It’s another opportunity to work towards our end goal. I love playing there. I think it’s a fun atmosphere and they do a good job of packing that place. Those are some of the funnest games is playing when you can’t even hear yourself. I’m excited to go there and go get a win.”

Men’s College Basketball

No. 11 BYU (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) at No. 15 Texas Tech (13-4, 3-1 Big 12)

Saturday, 6 p.m. MT

United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas

TV/Streaming: ESPN

Radio: KSL 102.7/1160 AM, BYU Radio-Sirus XM 143

Live stats: byucougars.com

The Word: Texas Tech leads the overall series with BYU 4-3. … The Red Raiders won the last meeting 72-67 in Provo last Jan. 5. … The Cougars have won six straight Big 12 road games dating back to last season. … BYU’s last victory against Texas Tech came in 1993, an 84-74 win in Provo with 26 points from Randy Reid. … The Cougars have won 12 straight conference games, third in the nation behind league foe Houston (17) and Duke (15).