Dybantsa's near-triple double helps No. 23 BYU stun No. 6 Iowa State

PROVO — The demise of BYU men's basketball following an unsettling injury to senior guard Richie Saunders may have been overstated.

AJ Dybantsa continued his torrential scoring with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists; and No. 23 BYU stunned No. 6 Iowa State 79-69 in front of an announced crowd of 18,046 at the Marriott Center.

Kennard Davis Jr. added 17 points and four rebounds for the Cougars, including a rim-rocking dunk in the final minutes that blew the roof off the 55-year-old arena.

Mihailo Boskovic supplied a career-best 13 points and five rebounds for BYU (20-7, 8-6 Big 12), shooting 5-of-11 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. One of them helped ice the game with 1:30 remaining, giving the Cougars a 73-63 advantage to pull away for good.

It's just the second win over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 this season for BYU, which has won four of the last five games against the Cyclones.

Tamin Lipsey had 19 points, five rebounds and three assists to lead Iowa State (23-4, 10-4 Big 12); and teammate Joshua Jefferson totaled 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

But Saturday night was about Dybantsa, who scored 20 points or more the fifth-straight game and the 20th time in his freshman season. The five-star freshman has been as-advertised for the Cougars, a projected NBA draft lottery pick in strong contention to be selected first overall in June's NBA draft.

Dybantsa can do "whatever he wants" on the basketball court, impacting a game from all three levels, with his passing, and on the glass, head coach Kevin Young said. But what impressed the long-time NBA coach the most was what he did on defense, guarding Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic to just 5 points on 1-of-5 shooting in 25 minutes.

"The guy's an absolute stud," Young said of Dybantsa. "I think he's showing people night in and night out how reliable he is. What I liked about tonight is he did it on both ends of the floor. That's something I've challenged him with since I met the young man.

"I thought it was his most complete game of the season," he added.

Saturday night was also different, because BYU — which has played close against No. 3 UConn, No. 14 Kansas, No. 8 Houston and No. 4 Arizona (twice) — closed out a ranked opponent for the first time in Big 12 play.

"We've been neck-and-neck with top-five teams, losing by single digits," Dybantsa said. "We knew we were right there. It was just a matter of time before we collectively brought it together and got a dub."

Dybantsa scored or assisted on eight of the Cougars' first 11 made field goals, and gave the Cougars a 28-25 advantage with a shot over Milan Momcilovic to get to 10 points with 4:49 left in the half.

The teenager who is likely one-and-done in Provo had 14 points, four rebounds, four assists and a block; and Wright added 6 points and two steals as BYU led by as much as 12 before the halftime buzzer.

But the Cougars were emboldened by the emergence of Boskovic, who had 7 points and three rebounds in the first half three days after shooting 0-of-3 in a 75-68 loss to Arizona, en route to a 39-30 halftime lead.

BYU converted just five of its first 15 shots after halftime, but outrebounded the Cyclones 8-5 to stay in front 51-41 as Dybantsa climbed above 20 points midway through second half.

Lipsey connected from the perimeter to pull Iowa State within four, 52-48 with 9:55 remaining — and another with 7:21 on the clock to keep the Cyclones within a possession 57-54.

But the Cougars fed off a raucous sellout home crowd — one that made its presence known after Davis dunked with 5:23 left to keep a 61-54 lead — and never let up for their first win of an AP Top 25 team since Nov. 21 against then-No. 23 Wisconsin.

A dunk? By Davis, or as his teammates, coaches and fans call him, "Moo," the 6-foot-6 guard from St. Louis whose 17 points were his most since Dec. 22 against Eastern Washington?

"I was surprised he even did that, to be honest," Dybantsa deadpanned of his teammate, tongue firmly in cheek. "A lot of vert; I didn't know he had it in him.

"It was probably the Kobes," he added.

BYU returns to the Marriott Center to host UCF on Tuesday night (9 p.m. MST, ESPN2).

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