MANHATTAN, Kansas — It was supposed to be a post-New Year’s fireworks spectacular pitting two of the highest-scoring players in the country on two of the highest-scoring college basketball teams in the country.
The No. 10 BYU Cougars had other ideas.
In one of their best defensive performances of the young season, a performance that offset a problematic penchant for turning the ball over, the Cougars scratched and clawed their way past Kansas State 83-73 in front of a sellout crowd of 11,010 at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
It was the 10th straight win for BYU, the program’s longest streak since 2011, and it came in a college town where the Cougars have never won before. It did not come easy. Big 12 road wins never do.
“I’m not trying to be a smart aleck, but winning is what I liked best (about the game),” said BYU coach Kevin Young. “Finding a way to win a conference game on the road is what I am most proud about. That was the most impressive thing.”
BYU now leads the all-time series 6-5, and is 2-1 against the Wildcats in Big 12 games.
The Cougars improved to 1-3 in Manhattan, aka the “Little Apple,” as BYU’s biggest star, AJ Dybantsa, and biggest player, Keba Keita, combined to win the day in the Cougars’ first nationally televised game on CBS since Jimmer Fredette’s senior season (2011).
Dybantsa overcame early foul trouble to tie K-State’s PJ Haggerty for high-scoring honors with 24 points, while Keita dominated the glass with a career-high 16 rebounds, part of BYU’s 47-35 advantage on the boards.
Keita added 11 points and two blocks.
Coincidentally, Dybantsa (23.1) entered the game as the country’s second-leading scorer, while Haggerty (22.9) stood at No. 3 behind Duke’s Cameron Boozer. Dybantsa and Haggerty both made eight field goals and got to the free-throw line a combined 20 times.
After Boozer scored just 17 points in No. 6 Duke’s narrow win over Florida State Saturday, Dybantsa is tops in the country (23.1 ppg.) and Haggerty and Boozer are second (23 ppg.)
“Definitely physical,” is the way Dybantsa described his first Big 12 game. “The (seven) turnovers is unacceptable. I gotta be stronger. I can be stronger.”
So it wasn’t the teenager’s finest game of his only season in Provo, but it was enough — thanks to a lot of help from the likes of Keita, Robert Wright III (18 points, five assists), Richie Saunders (13 points three assists) and Kennard Davis (four points, six rebounds).
For Dybantsa, who had three steals and eight rebounds to offset the seven turnovers, it was slightly personal, seeing as how Kansas State made a big recruiting push for the nation’s No. 1 prep prospect a little more than a year ago.
“Yeah, it was fun,” Dybantsa said. “Obviously, you want to compete (well) against people you know when you step between the lines. It was a different game, but I mean, they are good people.”
It was the first sellout at Bramlage in three years against an opponent not named Kansas, with the usual strong contingent of BYU fans scattered throughout the so-called “Octagon of Doom.”
Then BYU’s defense stole the show, holding a Kansas State team that was in the top 10 nationally in 3-point shooting percentage (39.9%) to just three triples on 21 attempts.
Abdi Bashir Jr. made all three of KSU’s triples, the only one in the second half coming off one leg.
BYU’s perimeter defense “was really big,” Young said. “It is not rocket science, but how do you guard Haggerty? How do you guard the 3-point line? Sometimes those two things together can be difficult, because you want to show him a crowd.
“I thought our guys did a good job of kind of toeing the line and mixing up our coverages and not helping too much,” Young said. “He did a good job and he’s a great player, and he did a good job of drawing fouls.”
Kansas State played without starter Elias Rapieque, who was averaging 3.8 points in 17.6 minutes. He had started KSU’s last four games.
Kansas State’s bench outscored BYU’s bench 17-13, which is a stat the Cougars were only trying to keep reasonably close, and succeeded.
That’s because Mihailo Boskovic gave Young 17 solid minutes off the bench before fouling out, turning in nine points. Boskovic came up with a huge block of a Nate Johnson dunk attempt with 24 seconds remaining in the first half, but somehow did not get credit for it in the official stats.
“I love his game,” Saunders said of Boskovic. “When he comes into the game he brings energy and hustle. I love it, and he’s not afraid to take the big shot.”
With about seven minutes remaining and BYU scuffling to score with Dybantsa on the bench and Keita missing a couple free throws moments earlier, Boskovic drained a triple from in front of the BYU bench, and the Wildcats were doomed to their fifth loss, their four-game winning streak over.
Kansas State cut BYU’s lead to 74-66 with four minutes remaining, but Dybantsa and Saunders made back-to-back buckets to derail the home team’s upset hopes.
Bashir’s 3-pointer came with three minutes left, ending a lengthy 3-pointer drought for the Wildcats.
“I love Moo (Davis),” Saunders said. “He stepped up today, hit some shots, but was really good on defense. I love how he was out there talking on the defensive end, which was just incredible. That was a key to holding them to three 3-pointers.”
Playing in just his second game, center Abdullah “Biddo” Ahmed also made a difference inside as Keita battled foul problems. Ahmed had four points, three blocks and two rebounds in 12 minutes and filled in nicely as a rim protector.
Keita was 4 for 4 from the field in 27 minutes.
“I mean, I just wanted to win,” he said. “I was just doing my job.”
So was Dybantsa, who has now scored 20 or more points in seven straight games. That is tied with Kevin Durant for the fourth-longest streak of 20-plus point games for a freshman in the Big 12 over the last 20 seasons.
“We are not really a high turnover team. Give Kansas State credit. They were super physical. The only way we were able to combat that was with our offensive rebounds,” Young said. “So that is probably what I am most proud of outside just getting the win, our offensive rebounding.”
Twelve of those turnovers came in the first half, but the Cougars were still able to get out to a 45-35 lead at the break, and keep the upset-hungry crowd from taking over.
Saunders, Boskovic and Davis hit 3-pointers after Dybantsa went to the bench with his second foul with 6:27 remaining.
“This is Year 3 in the Big 12 for us and we know from going through it before that every game is just a slugfest, a rock fight,” Saunders said.
“Props to them for their defense, for forcing turnovers. They played really well and kept it close.”
But not close enough. Fortunately for the turnover-prone Cougars, BYU’s defense made the trip, too.
