KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Duke standout Cameron Boozer and fellow freshman Darryn Peterson of Kansas have made it pretty clear this college basketball season that they intend to be the first three players selected in the NBA draft this summer.
Dybantsa wants to prove during the postseason he deserves to be No. 1.
He got off to quite the start Tuesday night, pouring in 40 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists, and willing his No. 10-seeded Cougars to a 105-91 victory over No. 15 seed Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
“Today I was just trying to focus on a win,” Dybantsa said. “Whatever it took to just get the win.”
Dybantsa didn’t just put up a bunch of points, though. He was efficient, going 15 of 21 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. And while he did have a game-high six turnovers, some of that was because the ball was in his hands on almost every possession.
More of those possessions ended with high-flying dunks than passes that ended up in Kansas State’s hands.
“What he was doing was impressive because I thought he was scoring every way possible,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “I think it was probably one of his most complete games — outside of the lob he threw short to Khadim (Mboup) at the end. But I thought it was just a full display of his skillset. I think he’s the most skilled player in college basketball.”
Dybantsa nearly matched his career high of 43 points set in a win over Utah in January. That also happens to be the single-game Big 12 Tournament scoring record, set by Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary in a game against Texas A&M on March 11, 2009.
“The main goal is to get to a championship,” Dybantsa said. “If I have to score 43, I’ll try to do that, but I’m not trying for a record.”
He might need to set some records to win a championship.
Some late-season struggles brought on in part by a season-ending knee injury to floor leader Richie Saunders left the Cougars (22-10) losing out by a tiebreaker for seeding, and dropping all the way to 10th for the tournament. That meant a first-round game against Kansas State on Wednesday night, when all the heavyweights in the league were resting at hotels or at home.
Dybantsa had 21 points by halftime, but the Cougars only led 50-49. And they only had that lead because of a turnover that led to his buzzer-beating dunk; Robert Wright III had an open dunk of his own but waited to give Dybantsa the easy points instead.
“It’s something we’ve been really on our guys about all year,” Young said. “We have talent, obviously, and we just try to make simple plays, and play together, and sometimes that’s easier said than done. I thought AJ made a lot of unselfish plays as well.”
When BYU needed a basket, though, Dybantsa was fine with being a little bit selfish.
After the Wildcats closed within 64-57, he scored on back-to-back trips down the floor. When Taj Manning hit a 3-pointer to get Kansas State within 68-63, the freshman threw down a dunk for BYU. And when Manning scored moments later, and BYU was clinging to a 73-67 lead, Dybantsa converted an acrobatic three-point play for some breathing room.
The only cloud on the night was the fact that BYU didn’t pull away from Kansas State until late, and Dybantsa wound up playing all but 3 1/2 minutes. With a second-round matchup against No. 7 West Virginia looming Wednesday, and three more games after that if the Cougars are to cut down the nets by Saturday night, he could use all the rest he could get.
Then again, it’s hard to prove you deserve to be the No. 1 pick in the draft by sitting on the bench.
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