NCAA loss to Texas reflects BYU trend of having to fight from behind
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- BYU’s AJ Dybantsa elevates for a reverse dunk in an NCAA First Round game against Texas at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on Thursday, March 19, 2026.
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- BYU’s Richie Saunders reacts on the bench during an NCAA men’s basketball first-round game against Texas at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on March 19, 2026.
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- Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) reacts during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against BYU, Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
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- Texas guard Tramon Mark shoots as BYU forward Khadim Mboup (7) and center Keba Keita (13) defend during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore.
PORTLAND, Ore. — If BYU falling behind by double-digits against Texas in its first round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday seemed familiar, well, you were paying attention this season.
The Cougars trailed by 11 in the opening moment of the second half, surrendering an alley-oop dunk to 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis (more on him later). The deficit was 17, 68-51, with 11:08 to play. BYU managed to trim that number to four points (72-68) with 2:02 to go but could get no closer. The Cougars failed to capitalize on seven straight free throw misses by the Longhorns (two in one-and-one situations) in the final six minutes, eventually losing 79-71 at the Moda Center.
As for the deja vu of playing from behind, the numbers don’t lie. The trend actually started in the first preseason game against Nebraska, where the Huskers led by 13 in the second half only to see BYU rally to lose by just one, 90-89.
The Cougars led for only 22 seconds on Thursday and trailed by nine at halftime, the 16th time (in 35 games) they were behind at the break. BYU trailed by double digits in 17 games, posting a 5-12 record. The Cougars also faced double-digit deficits in 12 of its final 16 games.
The conclusion is that BYU was one of the best second half teams in the country out of necessity because of putting itself in a big hole so many times.
“I just like how we persevered,” Cougar freshman AJ Dybantsa said. “That’s kind of been our identity all year. We are a second half team. Obviously the first half was just shaky with the rebounding. But I’m happy that we fought back. We could have folded and lost by 20, but we tried to cut it down and make a push for the win.”
Big man: Vokietaitis had a monster game against the Cougars, especially in the first half. The Lithuanian totaled 15 points and 11 rebounds (as many boards as the whole BYU team) and was especially troublesome with seven offensive rebounds. He scored eight straight points, including tip-ins for baskets on three straight possessions, as Texas led 46-37 at halftime.
Vokietaitis finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds, though he did miss all seven free throws he attempted in the second half.
Cougar head coach Kevin Young said the game plan accounted for how tough it would be to keep Vokietaitis — the Longhorns second-leading scorer — in check.
“Our guys heard about it at halftime,” Young said. “It was just super disappointing. We’ve been a really good rebounding team for most of the year and in particular in our sort of resurgence at the end of the season. We knew how good he was. You watch the tape, it’s pretty obvious to see it. We challenged our bigs at halftime. Not just the bigs, but the guards, too. I thought we did a much better job in the second half. But it was extremely disappointing that he basically manhandled our whole team in the first half.”
One-and-done: With the Cougars out of the tournament, it’s very likely Dybantsa has played his last game in a BYU uniform. He said he would take a couple of weeks to consult with his family about what’s next, but as the probable No. 1 choice in June’s NBA Draft, it would appear to be an easy decision.
Young said it was “extremely frustrating” to have a generational player like Dybantsa and fail to move on in the NCAA Tournament.
“But at the same time, one guy can only do so much,” Young said. “Other guys have got to step up. I thought we rode him and Rob as best we could. With the guys we had, we were doing the things that they could do, and we were limited. It’s disappointing not to have the team that we put together around AJ, to be able to showcase what they could do with him, but that’s life, man.”
Young said he was proud of Dybantsa for putting the team on his back, especially after the injury to Saunders.
Dybantsa put up 35 points and ten rebounds against Texas.
“There were moments in that game were I thought he looked incredible,” Young said. “They should have put the Trailblazer court down there because the guy looked like a stone-cold NBA All–Star out there.
“The bottom line is, it’s a team game, and you’ve got to have other guys step up, even if you kow it’s guys who maybe their roles are bigger than they should have been.”
Respect: Texas head coach Sean Miller said he was pleased with his team’s defensive performance, despite giving up 35 points to Dybantsa, the nation’s leading scorer.
“We understood that he has the ability to score like nobody else,” Miller said. “What we talked about is a jump shot by him is a victory for us. Among the many things he does, he puts so many fouls on the opponent that he wears out the other team. I see he had 12 free throws, but these guys were able to play all the way till the end.
“The key for us, in addition to just him, is not allowing everybody else to join in. That truly was our true game plan, take away the three-point shot. If you look at the first half, until we went zone and scrambled on the last play of the first half, they had not made a three-point shot. We knew he was going to score. We just wanted to make sure we did a great job rebounding, and we did as good of a job as we can guarding the rest of the group. I think that’s really why we were able to win.”
Awards season: Dybantsa has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2026 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Friday morning. He joins Darius Acuff Jr. of Arkansas, Cameron Boozer of Duke, Jaden Bradley of Arizona, Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s, Kingston Flemings of Houston, Joshua Jefferson of Iowa State, Yaxel Lendeborg of Michigan, Braden Smith of Purdue and Keaton Wagler of Illinois.
The Tater Tot King: Senior Richie Saunders suffered a season-ending ACL injury on Valentine’s Day but did what he could to motivate his teammates from the sideline, especially during the Big 12 Tournament and Thursday’s NCAA Tournament game. He actually joined Young, Dybantsa and Robert Wright III in the post-game news conference after the loss to Texas.
“We’ve gone through a lot together,” Saunders said. “I’m just proud of my team for fighting, for staying together. It’s been an amazing time being with them.
“Looking back, I know for a very long time I’ll remember winning here, just the joy it brought me to be able to put on this uniform. I think last year, that run (to the Sweet 16) was one of my core memories along with the Iowa State game (a double overtime victory in Ames). That was a really fun one. I’m still trying to look back on this year and work through those emotions and stuff. But this has been a dream come true. I’ve loved it.”
