AJ Dybantsa, BYU basketball weather a Villanova storm and escape with a season-opening win

It's been well-documented that the preseason number 8 BYU Cougars are standing at the gate of the most highly anticipated season in the basketball program's history. To think that losing head coach Mark Pope to Kentucky would open a path for an NBA-quality head coach in Kevin Young to alter the trajectory of this Provo-based hall of hoops? Sometimes reality is less believable than fantasy.

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Young led the team to a Sweet 16 appearance in his first season at the helm, but everyone around the program understood that as good as last season's team was (shoutout to Egor Demin), this season was something different altogether: a coalition of competition. A team with championship aspirations that extend far beyond unfounded aspiration.

Against a program with the prestige of Villanova, BYU basketball was put on display before a national audience on TNT Monday night, stuffed with talent and shouldering the burden of loaded expectations.

Kevin Young's starting lineup had plenty of star power to back up the preseason buzz.

BYU starting lineup against Villanova

Rob Wright III
Richie Saunders
Kennard Davis
AJ Dybantsa
Keba Keita

Villanova likewise opened the book on a new chapter of their program's history with head coach Kevin Willard leading a team stuffed with 11 players new to the school this year. But the story was always going to be BYU in this one, and especially the prize of the upcoming NBA Draft, AJ Dybantsa.

Dybantsa already plays basketball like a pro, and I was most impressed by his self-awareness and willingness to share the basketball and pass up a contested shot for an unchallenged attempt for his teammates. In the second half, he displayed his killer instinct as he attacked the basket like it had been bad-mouthing his sister. He would not be denied, and he always had the final word.

Fast, long, strong, athletic are not typically adjectives one thinks of when considering BYU basketball, but maybe one should start to think differently about this team's identity. Jumpy, reactive, and antsy in all the right ways on defense, BYU boasted superior athletes at every moment of the game. This year's team is physical and imposing -- which should bode well when facing some of the freaks and animals prowling every corner of the loaded Big 12 Conference. Need I remind anyone of what happened whenever last year's team opposed Houston?

With that physicality, the Cougars forced the Wildcats into foul trouble early in the first half. Richie Saunders lined up at the stripe for a 1-and-1 with 6:13 still on the game clock. The Cougars controlled the first half with easy baskets, ball-sharing, and a healthy dose of highlights. Case in point: they wasted no time getting the highlight reel rolling, with Dybantsa lofting an alley-oop jam to Keita to get the action underway.

Kennard Davis sent the Cougars into halftime with a double-digit lead as he knocked a corner-pocket three-ball through the cylinder in the waning moments of the half. The Cougs held a 42-32 advantage at the break. Saunders (9) and Dybantsa (8) led the scorers at the break, with Dybantsa meanwhile leading the team in assists (3) and rebounds (4).

The most important numbers to keep in mind after the halftime break is that BYU was playing complete, team-centric basketball. Dybantsa's unselfishness set the tone for his team, as the Cougars had nine assists to just three turnovers in the opening 20.

The second half was much sloppier for BYU, especially in the first 11 minutes. The ball began to stick on offense, Villanova got hot from long range, and BYU's 10-point lead evaporated into a one-point deficit in a flash. As the Wildcats began to heat up, BYU's shooting went ice cold, stopped rebounding, and began fishing for foul calls. Loose balls on nearly every defensive set were deflected, bounced, and seemingly always found themselves in the hands of an open three-point shooter (frequently named Bryce Lindsay.

Rob Wright's dribble mystified and confounded his unfortunate on-ball defender at every turn. He got more paint touches than an artistic kindergartener, and that frustrated 'Nova's defense immeasurably as he pried off-ball defenders off their assignments and butterflied the resistance whenever possible. He was prone to forcing the issue a bit when he drove to the hole without a gap to breach -- and sure, the refs swallowed their whistles on more than a few occasions -- but Wright's driving ability will only become more effective as the threat of kicking to the open man.

Granted, the threat of an open shooter is only so effective when your team makes just five deep balls all game. The Cougars weren't especially inclined to pull up from distance in this game, as they shot just 17 shots from beyond the arc all game. Whether by design or by chance, this year's team doesn't seem heavily reliant upon the three-point shot (a spit in the face to every church ball player that will idolize this season's team). This style of play is modeled well for Dybantsa's style of play; he makes his money in the midrange, backing in the defender, and using his length and stretch to bend around the outstretched arms of his defender

BYU's big men also delivered some incredible performances on the defensive end, and that cannot go ignored.

I have once said that Keba Keita is essentially peak form athleticism Zion Williamson without dribbling ability. I felt vindicated in this belief while watching Keta spike a put-back dunk attempt through the rim at light speed, and turning around to immediately send an errant shot attempt into the stratosphere on the other end.

That's not cool, Keba. Chill out, man.

Khadim Mboup's energy was infectious -- he played with unmatched heart with and without the basketball. Angrily attacking rebounds and unafraid to throw himself into a congested paint to hunt a loose ball.

The Wildcats came scrambling back in the second half, taking chunks out of the lead with shot after shot finding their way into the tender embrace of the net. Still, Wright and Dybantsa took turns in the clutch, delivering punch after punch. Wright's savvy use of Keita's screens to snake the defender to his back before flipping the ball through with a floater's touch. The Cougars jostled Villanova's flow, however, recaptured the lead with help from their two 5-star additions, and escaped the Wildcats' upset bid with a final score of 71-66.

"I see the media. I'm on social media. I see it all the time," AJ shared about his perspective of being the number one player in the country. "I see the rankings I see the draft boards I see everything but I was just super excited to play college basketball and that's the route that I chose and I just want to take it game-by-game and I don't wanna look too much into the future, but it comes a lot. Me being who I am, I gotta deal with certain stuff, I've got to deal with the media and stuff like that so I'm going to try to do that to the best of my ability, but I'm going to just try to go play basketball."

He's at BYU to win basketball games, and he led his team to a great start on opening night. Dybantsa and BYU head back home to Provo to face Holy Cross on Saturday.

Key Player Stat lines: BYU vs Villanova

AJ Dybantsa: 21 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds
Rob Wright III: 14 points, 3 rebounds
Keba Keita: 8 points, 3 blocks, 7 rebounds

Key takeaways from BYU's win over Villanova:

1. Unselfishness unlocks BYU's ceiling. The Cougars shared the ball well, especially when the temptation to show off could have been a fatal distraction. This team came out in their first action looking poised, prepared, and cohesive. That will be huge as the level of competition gets tougher, and should remain a point of emphasis as the "cupcake" schedule opens against Holy Cross.

2. Defend the three-point line. BYU's control of the game disappeared when the Wildcats began hitting three-pointers. The issue wasn't that they were just hitting tough shots, they were hitting open shots and quickly found a rhythm that was tough for the Cougars to shake.

3. Make a free throw, for heaven's sake. Three empty trips to the foul line took the gas out of BYU's offensive machine in this one. Three from Dybantsa, one from Saunders, fruitless visits to the stripe are leaving points on the board and letting 'Nova feel comfortable during stretches that should have extended BYU's lead. This isn't information the team doesn't already know, but they'll need to sit in their happy place with a free throw chance.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.