3 takeaways from BYU’s win over Abilene Christian

A win is a win.

Though it may have been closer than most would have expected, BYU defeated Abilene Christian 85-67 Friday night at the Marriott Center.

The Cougars are now 11-1 on the season with one last nonconference opportunity ahead before the start of Big 12 play.

3 takeaways

The turnover bug bit BYU. Prior to Friday, the Cougars were averaging 9.6 turnovers per game.

Against Abilene Christian, they had 12 in the first half alone.

BYU ended the night with a season-high 18 turnovers, with the Cougars’ typically crisp passing looking anything but against the relentless and physical Wildcats, who have proven to be one of the best turnover-generating defenses in the sport thus far on the campaign.

AJ Dybantsa coughed up four giveaways, with Richie Saunders and Khadim Mboup adding three each.

1 of 36

2 of 36

3 of 36

4 of 36

5 of 36

6 of 36

7 of 36

8 of 36

9 of 36

10 of 36

11 of 36

12 of 36

13 of 36

14 of 36

15 of 36

16 of 36

17 of 36

18 of 36

19 of 36

20 of 36

21 of 36

22 of 36

23 of 36

24 of 36

25 of 36

26 of 36

27 of 36

28 of 36

29 of 36

30 of 36

31 of 36

32 of 36

33 of 36

34 of 36

35 of 36

36 of 36

But outside of the turnover issues, BYU had a strong offensive showing. The Cougars shot a collective 59.5% from the field, 37.5% from 3-point range and hit 29 free throws — though it was out of a whopping 40 such attempts.

However, the turnovers did lead to 18 subsequent Abilene Christian points, keeping the game much closer than BYU probably would have liked.

AJ Dybanta made history — and headlines. Fresh off of his first career double-double earlier this week, the Cougars’ freshman phenom scored another first on Friday by crossing the 30-point threshold for the first time.

Dybantsa ended the night with a personal-best 35 points to pair with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

But his night will be remembered years from now for him throwing down arguably the most outrageous dunk ever seen in program history.

Toward the end of the first half, Dybantsa grabbed the rebound from a missed Rob Wright III 3-pointer and went airborne for a one-handed slam in a single fluid motion, sending the Provo faithful into hysterics.

The dunk quickly went viral online and was immediately heralded as one of the best such plays in all of college basketball this season.

Cougar fans, if you haven’t already, get used to these nightly antics from Dybantsa. Never has such an immense, dynamic talent graced the Marriott Center hardwood in BYU blue before.

BYU missed Keba Keita. The Cougars’ senior big man was sidelined Friday with an illness, and his absence was definitely felt.

While typically scoring 50+ points in the paint against Quad 3 and 4 opponents this season, BYU managed just 30 points down low against the Wildcats while surrendering 30.

Additionally, the Cougars won the rebound battle by a 30-26 margin. Having Keita most definitely would have helped make that difference a bit larger.

But even without Keita, BYU still managed to swat nine blocks, with three coming from both Mboup and Mihailo Boskovic.

Mboup, making his first career start, also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead all players.