LINCOLN, Neb. - Despite a late surge from its newcomers, No. 8 BYU fell just short in a 90-89 exhibition loss to Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.
“Three things that I wanted out of this game was to see our starters together, Rob out and AJ with shooters around him and our defensive group,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said. “I feel good about learning more about our group based on those criteria that I laid out. No matter who we had out there, just being able to play a team like that who is well coached. Fred (Hoiberg) is a really good coach. Offensively they run their stuff super hard. That was a good thing for us to experience.”
AJ Dybantsa scored 19 of his team-high 30 points in the first half for the Cougars, as the freshman went 10-of-19 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
Khadim Mboup recorded a double-double as the redshirt freshman finished with 11 of BYU’s 39 rebounds. He also went 4-of-4 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Richie Saunders and Aleksej Kostić also reached double figures finishing with 11 points apiece.
The Cougars shot 45.3 percent from the field, including 32.3 percent from 3-point range, compared with Nebraska’s 50 percent shooting and 47.1 percent from beyond the arc. BYU also had five takeaways to the Cornhuskers’ two and scored 21 second-chance points to Nebraska’s 14.
First Half
The Cougars trailed 5-4 at the first media timeout as they missed five of their first six shots. Keba Keita got on the board with a pair of free throws followed by a layup in transition from Dybantsa, who finished through contact.
Robert Wright III spearheaded a 7-0 run for the Cougars with four straight points, including a steal and score. Saunders connected on BYU’s first 3-pointer of the game to put the lead to six before two straight triples from Nebraska's Rienk Mast.
With just over 13 minutes on the clock, Dybantsa went on a 5-0 run with a dunk and an and-one to push the lead to 16-11. After a Nebraska layup, Kennard Davis Jr. drained a step-back three before the under-12-minute media timeout.
Dybantsa made two-straight free throws following the media timeout, extending BYU’s advantage to eight points. Mboup came off the bench and made a second-chance layup after grabbing the rebound, just before Nebraska took the next five points, two made free throws and a 3-ball.
Kostić replied to the Cornhuskers’ 3-pointer with one of his own while the shot clock was ticking down. Nebraska answered with an 8-0 run to tie game at 26-all forcing a BYU timeout.
After Davis Jr. missed a three, the Cornhuskers continued their run with a dunk to take the lead. Wright III was fouled, bringing him to the charity stripe, where he went a perfect 2-of-2. Both teams kept the game back-and-forth after trading layups and fouls until Keita made a shot to regain the BYU lead by one.
With under six minutes remaining in the half, Dybantsa had a takeaway and attempted a fast-break shot but was fouled. The Brockton, Mass., native made both free throws before the Cornhuskers scored five-straight points to retake the lead, 39-35, before BYU called another timeout.
Saunders made his second 3-pointer of the first half to bring the game within two. Nebraska quickly kick-started a 6-2 run, bringing their advantage to six points with 3:55 on the clock.
Rob 🤝 AJ pic.twitter.com/sKmKsLqhsg
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) October 18, 2025
The Cougars finished the first half on a 10-0 run, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Dybantsa. Wright III got things started with a pair of free throws followed by back-to-back 3s from Dybantsa, forcing the Cornhuskers to call a timeout. Mboup had his second putback of the opening 20 minutes to put the Cougars up 50-46 at half.
Second Half
Nebraska opened the second half with a 7-0 run, made possible by a second-chance jumper, a layup and a three. Davis Jr. had the first Cougar points of the half off a layup before the Cornhuskers claimed seven of the next nine points to keep their lead before a media timeout at 15:43.
Following the media timeout, Nebraska made another 3-ball, but Davis Jr. found Kostić to put down a three for BYU. The Cornhuskers would go on to make their 13th 3-pointer of the game to keep the nine-point lead, 66-57.
Despite a layup by Saunders off a pass from Dybantsa, Nebraska went on a 5-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, an 11-point edge, with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Mboup would score back-to-back layups to bring the Cornhusker lead to eight, but another 5-0 Nebraska run pushed their lead to 76-63. Dybantsa made a driving layup and almost one minute later, Saunders knocked down a three off a Kostić pass. Kostić went on to make a three of his own to narrow the margin with 8:31 on the clock.
Two Mboup free throw makes and a Cornhusker layup would put the score at 80-73, bringing up a media timeout. After two Nebraska layups and a Mihailo Boskovic 3-ball, neither team would make a basket until the Cornhuskers made a three with 5:09 to go.
Dybantsa would make seven of the Cougars’ next nine points, powering a 9-1 BYU run to bring the game to three points with 2:26 remaining. After two Nebraska free throws, Kostić and Mboup scored four-straight points, narrowing the Cornhusker lead to one point with 14 seconds on the clock. The Cougars were unable to capitalize on the momentum, resulting in a 90-89 loss.
Up Next
The Cougars face-off against No. 25 North Carolina in the opening game of The Bad Boy Mowers Series on Friday, Oct. 24, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.