BYU basketball defeats West Virginia, advances to Big 12 quarterfinal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the time since joining the Big 12, BYU basketball has won two games in one week at the Big 12 Tournament.

BYU won its second game in as many days after defeating No. 7-seed West Virginia on Wednesday night in the Big 12 Tournament Second Round.

It wasn’t the typical blueprint for how BYU won the game. Usually, BYU puts up a high-scoring effort; case in point: last night, they set a Big 12 Tournament record with 105 points against K-State.

On Wednesday, BYU finished with 68 points. But that was plenty as they held West Virginia to only 48.

It was the fewest points BYU allowed against a Big 12 opponent this season. The previous low was 69 points against Iowa State in Provo on February 21.

Big 12 Freshman of the Year AJ Dybantsa followed up his freshman Big 12 Tournament record 40 points with 27 on 11-of-24 shooting in the win over the Mountaineers.

The win advances BYU to the Quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, where they will face the No. 2 seed, Houston, at 5 p.m. (MDT) on ESPN2 and KSL NewsRadio.

First Half

Under-16: West Virginia 8, BYU 5

BYU attempted the first three field goals of the game but were not able to establish an early lead.

WVU’s Honor Huff knocked down his first two 3-point attempts.

Under-12: BYU 11, West Virginia 10

BYU put together a 6-0 run to get back in front. The 6-0 run coincided with Kevin Young subbing out Aleksej Kostic for Khadim Mboup.

Rob Wright also didn’t appear fazed in the early going after going through dental work last night.

Under-8: BYU 17, West Virginia 11

Dominique Diomande put on a show.

The moment Diomande checked into the game, AJ Dybantsa was targeting him for an alley-oop. The first attempt didn’t go, but then on the second try, he threw it down with authority.

On the next defensive series, Diomande came up with one of his two early steals, leading to a beautiful windmill dunk that had the T-Mobile Center crowd on their feet.

West Virginia committed six turnovers in a seven-minute stretch.

Under-4: BYU 25, West Virginia 17

BYU held West Virginia without a field goal for a three-minute stretch.

AJ Dybantsa had an outstanding drive through the paint for a bucket. The footwork was on full display.

Halftime: BYU 31, West Virginia 23

AJ Dybantsa put an exclamation point on the first half with a steal and a highlight-reel slam dunk.

BYU held West Virginia to only 23 points in the first half, the fewest they have given up since allowing 20 in the first 20 minutes against Pacific on December 16.

Second Half

Under-16: BYU 36, West Virginia 29

BYU was ice cold from the field in the opening minutes of the second half. The Cougars missed five straight shots before the media timeout.

Aleksej Kostic missed two early 3-point attempts, bringing him to 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. Kevin Young quickly brought in Khadim Mboup after the second miss.

Under-12: BYU 41, West Virginia 35

BYU attempted five more goal attempts than WVU, courtesy of a plus-three advantage on the offensive glass to open the second half, but they weren’t hitting.

BYU opened the half at the under-12 mark, shooting 30% from the field.

Under-8: BYU 49, West Virginia 42

AJ Dybantsa had another alley-oop to Dominique Diomande. Aside from that, it’s been a physical game with few offensive highlights in the second half.

BYU attempted its first free throw attempts of the second half at the 8:19 mark. It was only the fourth and fifth attempts from the charity stripe for BYU in the game at that point.

Under-4: BYU 57, West Virginia 42

BYU jumped out to a 10-0 run. Kennard Davis Jr. continues to play. “Moo” knocked down a three-pointer after a jump ball that was BYU’s possession.

Davis was up to 17 points and BYU was cruising.

Final: BYU 68, West Virginia 48

Kennard Davis finished the game with 20 points as BYU took down the Mountaineers.

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 BYUathletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

Want more coverage of BYU sports? Take us with you wherever you go.

Download the new and improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. Allows you to stream live radio and video, keeping you up to date on all your favorite teams.

Follow @Mitch_Harper