No. 8 BYU vs. Villanova
- Tip: Monday, 7:30 p.m. MST
- Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
- TV: TNT and TruTV
- Livestream: HBO Max
- Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars split their pair of preseason exhibitions, falling 90-89 at Nebraska and defeating UNC by a 78-76 margin at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Kevin Young’s squad has been given its highest preseason AP Top 25 ranking in program history and was picked to finish second in the Big 12 by coaches and third by media members.
BYU finished 26-10 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for just the third time since 1981.
For Villanova: The Wildcats are entering Year 1 of the Kevin Willard era, with their new coach having come from another Sweet 16 team in Maryland to take the reins of the program.
Villanova also split its two preseason exhibitions, defeating VCU 70-51 and losing to Virginia 75-72.
The Wildcats have been picked to finish seventh in the 11-team Big East Conference this year.
Key player
AJ Dybantsa, BYU freshman forward
How could it be anyone else?
Dybantsa was the nation’s top high school recruit last year and has been named a preseason All-American. He’s a potential No. 1 overall NBA draft selection and the undisputed face of BYU’s top-10 squad.
His long-awaited regular season collegiate debut will be Monday night in Las Vegas, if Dybantsa plays anything like he did in the preseason, Cougar fans will be in for a treat.
Dybantsa averaged 24 points per game in BYU’s two exhibitions, and now the dominantly smooth freshman phenom will have the chance to make a loud statement for a national television audience.
Quotable
“This is what I said we wanted to make this place when we got here. I’m grateful that people have decided to come here to help us, put us in that situation, but this isn’t like a feel-good moment, because we have a ‘quote, unquote’ big game.
“We want to play with the big boys. We want to be a contender in all things college basketball. It’s not like a badge of honor because we got a big game. That’s what we should want. And I’m glad that we have it. And now it’s a matter of going out and producing.” — BYU coach Kevin Young
