The era of AJ Dybantsa ends with a whimper as BYU falls in the first round vs Texas

What version of BYU basketball was going to take the court in the NCAA Tournament?

That was the question at the front of my mind as the days turned to hours turned to minutes before the Cougars' first-round matchup tipped off. Plagued with six season-ending injuries, Kevin Young's lineup was essentially whittled down to megastar AJ Dybantsa, exceptional point guard Rob Wright, and whoever else would round out a five-man spread.

Against teams like Cincinnati and UCF, the withered BYU side was demolished. Exposed as shallow and unbalanced, a complete lack of defensive fortitude doomed the Cougars to witness their own destruction.

Yet against Iowa State, Texas Tech, and each of their foes in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the AJ Dybantsa show ran without a hitch. Taking down top-10 opposition and looking like a complete basketball team, the identity of this edition of BYU basketball was completely up in the air.

Would it be the scrappy underdogs fighting for every inch while AJ Dybantsa filled in the gaps, or would it be the invertibrate conglomeration that poked its hideous face out in the most inopportune moments.

It didn't take long to get an answer.

The 11-seed Texas Longhorns led the favorite Cougs by nine at halftime. Big man Matas Vokietaitis had a season-high 11 rebounds in the first 20 minutes, and BYU had made just one three-pointer in the opening frame.

In other words, BYU came out flat. As had been the pattern for an uncomfortable number of games this year, BYU's lack of defensive integrity paired with ice-cold shooting dug a hole from which Dybantsa and company were forced to dig themselves out. Falling behind by as many as 17 points in the second half, even I reached a breaking point, switching to VCU's overtime victory against UNC in frustration.

Sure enough, BYU managed to make the contest close once again, banking on missed Vokietaitis foul shots and timely scoring to draw the contest within four points in the final two minutes of play.

But that was as close as they would ever get -- four points was the cap. Texas pulled the plug on the life-support Cougars and will advance to the Round of 32.

Blame it on injuries, officiating, or luck, but BYU basketball showed their true form in the round of 64. An unbalanced team riddled with holes and a drastic playmaking deficit outside of the Dybantsa-Wright tandem, this year's edition simply wasn't balanced enough to weather the early storm.

To make matters even more confusing, AJ Dybantsa was incredible. Better than advertised all season long, his final game in royal blue forced him to do it himself. And darn it, he nearly did. 35 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist (in order to record assists, his teammates would need to score the ball, which was too much to ask most of the season) to cap what was an incredible freshman campaign for the odds-on number 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

No one could have foreseen the Cougars' injury bug becoming as severe as it did. Losing key transfer and backup point guard Nate Pickens before the season, leading bench scorer Dawson Baker in early non-conference play, Xavion Staton and Brody Kozlowski were scratched, and even Richie Saunders, the heartbeat of this program for the past three seasons, dropped to an ACL tear before the postseason.

On paper, this was a team capable of competing for a Final Four berth. The history books will remember this team as a first-round exit carried by a generational superstar.

It's tragic to see such a special moment in BYU athletics history die with a whimper. A basketball messiah, Dybantsa held the power to lift a good team into a great one. Torn down to the foundation, however, he was forced to make the most of a sub-par supporting cast.

2025-26 was not the last chance for BYU basketball. Though Dybantsa is a once-in-a-lifetime type of player, Kevin Young doesn't rest his laurels upon a single recruiting win and promises to be right back in the madness led by 5-star freshman Bruce Branch, and a deliberately well-balanced roster in '26-'27.

The age of AJ Dybantsa is over, so mourn as you need. But as Texas coach Sean Miller stated pre-game, "[BYU is] going to be in a prominent position in this tournament for years to come."

Thanks for the memories, AJ. On to the next.