PROVO, Utah – BYU men's basketball previewed the 2025-26 season with their annual Blue & White game Thursday night at the Marriott Center.
“Just seeing all of the students flooding the Marriott Center was cool," second-year head coach Kevin Young said. "It got us excited for basketball season. Obviously, there’s a lot of excitement around BYU Athletics in general, so we were glad that everyone could see some of our guys tonight.”
Richie Saunders led all scorers in the 20-minute contest as the senior finished with 15 points going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. True freshman Aleksej Kostić also reaached double figures with 12 points going 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
In his first game at the Marriott Center, AJ Dybantsa filled the stat sheet with nine points, five assists and a steal.
The AJ Dybantsa BYU era is here 😈 @AJ_Dybantsa @BYUMBB pic.twitter.com/95KsjUFQGw
— Overtime (@overtime) October 10, 2025
First Half
In his debut as a Cougar, Khadim Mboup put the Team White on the board first with a dunk, assisted by a steal from Kennard Davis Jr. After a made free throw by Xavion Staton, Dybantsa hit a jumper to give the Blue team a 3-2 lead.
Kostić and Mihailo Bošković drained back-to-back 3-pointers for Team Blue, extending their lead to 9-5. Bošković kept his momentum going on the next possession with a dunk to push the lead to 11-5.
Mboup and Saunders each made a pair of free throws for Team White, cutting the deficit to 11-9. The freshman-senior duo connected again on the fast break, as Saunders assisted Mboup to tie the game at 11.
Dybantsa made a free throw and Kostić hit another 3-pointer to regain a 15-13 lead for Team Blue. Staton blocked Mboup’s shot, giving Kostić another chance. After missing a 3-pointer, the Austria native converted a second-chance jumper to keep Blue ahead 15-11.
A traveling violation gave Team White possession and Saunders hit his first field goal of the game from behind the arc to tie the score again.
The 6-foot-9 Dybantsa made a layup to put Blue back on top, but White responded quickly with a Keba Keita putback dunk off a Davis Jr. miss.
Two more Saunders free throws tied the game at 23. Each team went 1-of-2 from the line in the final seconds, sending the game into halftime tied at 24.
Mboup and Saunders led White with seven points apiece, while every player on Team White recorded a steal in the first half. Blue was powered by Kostić and Dybantsa, who each scored eight points. Dybantsa also tallied five assists.
After 12 minutes of first-half play, the teams were restructured before eight minutes of second-half play.
Second Half
To open the second half, Keita grabbed a offensive rebound and passed to Saunders, who hit a 3-pointer for Team White. Now representing Team Blue, Mboup scored a layup to get his team on the board.
Team White picked up its second straight 3-pointer from Davis Jr., extending the lead to 6-2. Saunders was fouled and went 2-for-2 from the line to make it 8-2.
Davis Jr. followed with two more free throws to push Team White’s lead to eight. Kostić found Staton for a dunk to trim the margin.
Tyler Mrus made his presence known after he sunk a 3-pointer from deep for White. Jared McGregor took the court and replied with a three of his own, which brought the board to 11-7 White.
Mboup grabbed a rebound off a McGregor miss and converted a contested shot in the paint, adding a free throw on the and-one to pull Blue within four.
Bošković hit his second 3-pointer of the night for Blue, making it 14-13. Kostic then sank two free throws to give Blue its first lead of the half.
Saunders responded with a corner 3-pointer to reclaim the lead for Team White, but Kostić went back to the line and made both free throws to tie the game at 17 with under a minute to play.
Kostić drew another foul on a backdoor cut and made one of two free throws before a lane violation gave White possession with just over five seconds remaining. After a timeout, Bošković was fouled and made both free throws to seal a 20-17 second-half win for Team Blue.
Up Next
BYU will open its season with an exhibition game at Nebraska on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. MST and will be broadcast live on B1G+.