The No. 8 BYU Cougars started their 2025-26 college basketball campaign on a high note on Monday night, with their highly-touted recruit proving the hype. Freshman AJ Dybantsa led the way for BYU basketball, top scoring for the Cougars with 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field to go along with six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes of a 71-66 win over the unranked Villanova Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“It felt good,” Dybantsa said of his performance in his first official NCAA game (h/t Jay Drew of the Deseret News).
“It was definitely different from the exhibitions (against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and North Carolina Tar Heels). It just feels good to get a game under my belt and get a win.”
Dybantsa was expected by BYU basketball to be a major contributor right away for the program when the Cougars won his nod in the recruitment phase. He got plenty of offers, including from the likes of the Alabama Crimson Tide, North Carolina Tar Heels, Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Michigan WolverinesTexas Longhorns and UConn Huskies, before ultimately deciding to take his talents to BYU, which had gone to the Big Dance in three of the previous five seasons.
Apart from Dybantsa, BYU basketball also got significant contributions from Richie Saunders and Baylor Bears transfer Robert Wright III. Saunders provided the Cougars with 15 points, seven boards, two assists and two steals, while knocking down all six of his attempts from the foul line. Wright, on the other hand, scored 14 points with three rebounds.
But one BYU player who also caught the eye of Dybantsa was senior forward Keba Keita, who swatted away three shots and embodied the Cougars' stout defense against the Wildcats.
“It’s crazy. I have never played with shot blocker like that. He’s sending stuff to the ninth row and I have never seen that before,” Dybantsa said of Keita. “It gives us a lot of energy. Now I’m just gonna start forcing guys to the paint so they can (get swatted).”
Dybantsa and the Cougars will next take on a lightweight in the form of the Holy Cross Crusaders in BYU basketball's season home debut at Marriott Center in Provo this coming Saturday.
