Takeaways From No. 10 BYU’s Win Over ACU
Dec 20, 2025, 12:36 AM | Updated: 12:50 am
PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball defeated Abilene Christian 85-67 at the Marriott Center.
The win improves BYU’s record to 11-1 overall and eight consecutive wins.
Here are some takeaways from BYU’s non-conference victory over ACU.
AJ Dybantsa is making a strong case to be the National Player of the Year
BYU freshman star AJ Dybantsa is a star. Whenever he touches the floor, he does things that BYU fans have possibly never seen before at the Marriott Center.
Yet, for some reason, there hasn’t been enough national conversation about Dybantsa being a favorite for National Player of the Year. Maybe it’s the letters “B-Y-U” on the front of the jersey that keep that discourse from happening, but the way Dybantsa is playing is hard to ignore.
He’s not only one of the best players in college hoops, but he’s also one of the best basketball players on the planet right now.
Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer should be the two favorites for National Player of the Year right now, along with Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg to round out the top three.
Dybantsa is also a highly efficient player
You’re not going to find many nights where a player goes off for 35 points on only 12 field goal attempts. That was Dybantsa’s stat line on the offensive end against Abilene Christian.
AJ Dybantsa posts a new season high for scoring in BYU’s win over Abilene Christian.
• 35 Points
• 9-12 FG
• 17-20 FT pic.twitter.com/VNfvkAKxLu— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) December 20, 2025
Dybantsa feasted at the free throw line, attempting 20 free throws and knocking down 17 of them.
He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists in 36 minutes of action.
Richie Saunders highlighted “ball toughness”
At the under-12 timeout in the second half, BYU led by only two points, 54-52. The message in the huddle at that moment was “ball toughness.”
No one embodied that more than Saunders.
The senior leader got downhill for an and-one opportunity. Then moments later, he made a hustle play to throw it off an ACU player to keep possession with BYU.
After that, he had a slam dunk to give BYU a 10-0 run for an immediate response to put the game out of reach for ACU.
Saunders finished the game with 21 points, and like Dybantsa, took care of business at the free throw line going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Slow start popped up again for BYU
BYU didn’t grab its first lead in this game until the 8:15 mark in the first half when Rob Wright III buried a three-pointer.
It was another case of BYU starting slowly.
Is it cause for concern? Maybe.
However, the one exception is that throughout non-conference play, BYU has had different players in and out of the rotation. Tonight, starting center Keba Keita was out due to an illness. In the home win over Delaware last month, they were without Kennard Davis due to Achilles’ soreness.
This team has shown an excellent ability to respond quickly in games. Where it could get problematic is in true road games; the UConn game at Boston’s TD Garden was the closest thing BYU has experienced to a road environment in the regular season.
Still, the positive for BYU is that they have not played poorly for an entire 40 minutes. Getting off to stronger starts will be something to monitor when Big 12 play starts in two weeks.
Reminder of how important Keba Keita is to this team
BYU starting center Keba Keita was out due to an illness on Friday. Head coach Kevin Young said it’s an illness that kept guard Aleksej Kostic out earlier this week. Kostic returned tonight.
Still, Keita’s absence was a reminder of how important he is to how this BYU squad operates.
Khadim Mboup earned his first career start, and for the second time in three games, he posted double-figures in rebounds. Along with his 10 rebounds, Mboup also had three blocks.
Along with Mboup, reserve big man Mihailo Boskovic also had three blocks. Boskovic has quietly done a nice job on the offensive end in recent games.
The second-year player, who is a stretch five in Kevin Young’s program, knocked down a three-pointer near the buzzer at the end of the first half. Also, Boskovic was the one who made the inbounds pass to Rob Wright last week against Clemson for the buzzer-beater win.
That was solid production in the post. However, Keita’s intensity on both ends of the floor is unmatched. It was a good reminder of how important he is to this BYU team and how it could make a deep run.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
