PROVO, Utah — BYU’s AJ Dybantsa was named the Lute Olson Award National Player of the Week presented by collegeinsider.com on Monday.
The 6-foot-9 forward was also named to the Big 12 Starting Five after averaging 27.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in wins over Clemson and UC Riverside.
In the Cougars' comeback victory over Clemson in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden, Dybantsa scored 22 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, helping BYU erase a 22-point deficit before Robert Wright III’s game-winning 3-pointer at the Buzzer.
The Brockton, Mass. native outscored the Tigers after halftime, 22-21, as he went 7-of-11 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds, four of those on the offensive glass and five assists after halftime.
He followed that up with 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals in BYU’s 100-53 win over UC Riverside on Saturday evening at the Marriott Center. He became the first freshmen to have 25/5/5/5 since Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens went for 26 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and five steals in a triple overtime victory over Tulsa on Dec. 21, 2019.
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In the win over the Highlanders, Dybantsa also became the second freshman in program history to score 200 or more points in their first 10 games as a Cougar. His 209 points through 10 contests are second only to Danny Ainge’s 215.
BYU returns to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 16, when the Cougars host Pacific at the Marriott Center. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.