No. 19 BYU Stumbles In Road Loss At West Virginia
Feb 28, 2026, 6:15 PM
BYU basketball falls on the road at West Virginia. (Courtesy of BYU Photo)
(Courtesy of BYU Photo)
BYU basketball closes the penultimate week of the regular season winless.
No. 19 BYU dropped its second straight by falling at West Virginia, 79-71.
Final: West Virginia 79, BYU 71
BYU made it close, but ultimately couldn't overcome the 14-point halftime deficit.
Honor Huff and Brenen Lorient were stars for West Virginia.
Lorient had seven offensive rebounds in the game.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 1, 2026
The loss followed a similar pattern in many BYU losses this season. BYU stumbles out of the gate with a big deficit at the halftime break, then battles to make a comeback effort before ultimately coming up short.
West Virginia’s Honor Huff led the way for the Mountaineers with 19 points, followed by Brenen Lorient with 18 points.
Lorient was an x-factor for West Virginia as he grabbed seven offensive rebounds.
As a team, BYU had only eight offensive rebounds compared to West Virginia’s 18.
The Mountaineers had 15 second-chance points to BYU’s eight.
Rob Wright III led BYU in scoring with 23 points. AJ Dybantsa scored 20 points, with 16 of his points coming in the second half.
BYU reserve Aleksej Kostic was a bright spot on a difficult day. He finished with 12 points in 30 minutes of action. Kostic hit four 3-pointers.
First Half
Under-16: West Virginia 7, BYU 4
Another slow start for BYU basketball as they committed three early turnovers and gave up three offensive rebounds to West Virginia.
The Mountaineers scored five points off BYU’s three turnovers.
Despite the rocky start, BYU only found itself down by three.
Under-12: BYU 11, West Virginia 9
BYU forced West Virginia into a six-minute scoring drought, allowing the Cougars to go on a 9-0 run and take the lead.
Aleksej Kostic hit a three on the offensive end, then on defense, he generated a steal, creating an opportunity for a fastbreak layup. But instead of a bucket, he took an extra step, leading to a travel.
Under-8: BYU 21, West Virginia 17
West Virginia regained the lead after a Brenien Lorient bucket in the paint. BYU head coach Kevin Young called a timely timeout to prevent Hope Coliseum from getting loud.
Coming out of the timeout, Aleksej Kostic knocked down a three to put BYU back in front. Then, Rob Wright III hit a corner three on the following possession.
Under-4: West Virginia 28, BYU 22
West Virginia put together an 11-1 run that started with Honor Huff hitting three free throws, then, before the media timeout, knocking down a traditional three-pointer.
AJ Dybantsa got a quick breather of 1:34 of game time. The Mountaineers limited BYU’s star freshman to only three points at the under-four timeout.
Halftime: West Virginia 40, BYU 26
BYU closed the final 7:59 of the first half without a field goal.
West Virginia finished the half on a 23-5 run.
BYU finished the half with nine turnovers and only made eight field goals.
AJ Dybantsa was held to four points in the first half.
DJ Thomas led the way for West Virginia with 11 points. Entering the game, Thomas had only hit 15 three-pointers during the season. He was a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Second Half
Under-16: West Virginia 45, BYU 36
BYU opened the second half on a 7-0 run, forcing WVU coach Ross Hodge to call a timeout in the first 90 seconds.
Aleksej Kostic hit two 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half.
Both teams were active on the offensive glass, with each grabbing four offensive boards.
West Virginia had an opportunity on one possession that included four shot attempts, and it led to zero points.
Under-12: West Virginia 52, BYU 43
AJ Dybantsa started to heat up, as he scored seven consecutive points for BYU.
The problem was BYU needing more stops.
West Virginia’s Honor Huff hit a fadeaway three-pointer, and Chance Moore gathered a pass from Brenen Lorient for a layup to counter the buckets from Dybantsa.
Under-8: West Virginia 60, BYU 51
West Virginia extended its lead to 13 points before Kevin Young called a timeout with 9:52 remaining.
AJ Dybantsa got to the Big 12 logo for a bucket, then Kennard Davis Jr. found Keba Keita for a slam dunk in the paint to get the deficit back to single digits.
BYU coach Kevin Young was fired up with the officials at the media timeout after West Virginia’s Harlan Obioha set a screen on AJ Dybantsa that took the star freshman to the floor. BYU got the stop, but on the other end, Dybantsa was called for an offensive foul.
Under-4: West Virginia 70, BYU 63
BYU’s high-powered offense came to life with seven consecutive made field goals.
The firepower was on display with an impressive crossover from Kennard Davis Jr. and a stepback three by Rob Wright III.
The problem was on the defensive end. BYU was trading baskets with West Virginia.
Mountaineer starting forward Brenen Lorient was active on the offensive glass, plus hit a three-pointer over Keba Keita.
Final: West Virginia 79, BYU 71
BYU trimmed the deficit down to three on two occasions. Once, after an AJ Dybantsa stepback three, then on the following possession, from a Keba Keita layup, who gathered a 50/50 ball on the floor.
I said earlier today on Cougar Sports Saturday that the team who won the rebounding battle would win the game.
BYU got out-rebounded by 10.
And now, in 14 of BYU’s 16 conference games, the team that won the rebounding battle has also won the game.
— Nate Slack (@nateslack5) March 1, 2026
BYU’s defense got a stop on a turnover with an opportunity to tie or trim down to one. Dybantsa sent an outlet pass to Aleksej Kostic, who then turned it over immediately after pressure from WVU’s Chance Moore.
Offensive rebounds then sank BYU, as they did throughout the game.
Despite their best efforts to keep BYU in the game with misses from the free-throw line, West Virginia then pulled away from the charity stripe to earn an eight-point win.
BYU falls to 20-9 overall and 8-8 in Big 12 play. The Cougars have lost two straight and eight of their last 12.
Next up for BYU is a road game at Cincinnati on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. (MST) on ESPN2 and KSL NewsRadio.
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.
