No. 10 BYU opens Big 12 play at Kansas State

PROVO, Utah - No. 10 BYU opens Big 12 play on Saturday, Jan. 3, when the Cougars make the trip to the Little Apple to face Kansas State. Tip is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT at Bramlage Coliseum. 

WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game will be broadcast on CBS with John Sadak and Jim Spanarkel on the call. 

WE ARE IN KANSAS NOW
Saturday will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two programs and BYU's second trip to Bramlage Coliseum since they joined the Big 12. The all-time series is tied 5-all with neither school having picked up a road win yet, as the Cougars defeated the Wildcats 80-65 in their only meeting last season at the Marriott Center, ending K-State's six-game win streak. 

In three meetings against K-State, Richie Saunders is averaging 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 62.5 percent from the free throw line. He has scored in double figures in his past two appearances against the Wildcats, including his first career double-double last season. He finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, nine of those coming on the defensive glass.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Saturday will be the Cougars' first true road game of the season after playing seven of their 13 non-conference games at neutral sites, including games in three NBA arenas (Delta Center, TD Garden, Madison Square Garden). 

The Cougars are 6-5 in road games under second-year head coach Kevin Young, including winning their final four road contests in 2024-25. Their four-game road winning streak is tied for the fifth-longest current streak in NCAA Division I men's basketball with North Carolina and Yale.

During that stretch, BYU shot 50.2 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from 3-point land and 71.1 percent from the free throw line. They also outrebounded opponents by more than eight rebounds per game, including holding a 44-30 advantage on the offensive glass. Richie Saunders averaged 20.3 points per game, shooting 53.1 percent from the field, 47.8 percent from behind the arc and 85.7 percent from the free throw line.

A LATE CHRISTMAS PRESENT
AJ Dybantsa became the fourth player and third freshman this season to sweep the Big 12 weekly awards as he was named the league's Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week on Tuesday following his triple-double against Eastern Washington. 

First POTW for AJ. https://t.co/pZVPAKsd3O

— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) December 30, 2025

He becomes the second Cougar to be named the Big 12 Player of the Week since joining the league, as Richie Saunders won it in back-to-back weeks last season. 

ACT LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE
With the win over Eastern Washington in their non-conference finale, BYU improved to 14-2 all-time and ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll. 

With no new AP Poll coming out until Jan. 5, BYU has been ranked in the Top 10 in 32 different polls, including eight straight this season, which is tied for the longest such streak in program history.  

IN RARE AIR
13 games into his collegiate career, Dybantsa has scored 300 points, which is nine more than former Cougar Danny Ainge had in the first 13 games of his career when he set the freshman scoring record of 632 points. The 6-foot-9 forward needs just six points to stay ahead of Ainge as he scored 14 points against Hawaii in his 14th game at BYU. 

AJ Dybantsa		Danny Ainge
Opponent	Points	Opponent	Points
Villanova	21	UCLA	21
Holy Cross	17	Long Beach State	27
Delaware	18	Nevada	13
UConn	25	Idaho State	36
Wisconsin	18	Montana	20
Miami	16	Cal State Fullerton	8
Dayton	18	McNeese State	26
Cal Baptist	22	Illinois	19
Clemson	28	Bradley	28
UC Riverside	26	Utah State	25
Pacific	23	San Diego State	28
Abilene Christian	35	North Carolina	23
Eastern Washington	33	Rhode Island	25
	300		291

DOING HIS THING
Dybantsa ranks in the 100th percentile in points per 40 minutes over BYU's past five games (35.0). He also ranks in the 99th percentile in fast break points/40 minutes for the season (5.3), last five games (7.2) and second half (6.3). 

The freshman is one of three players in the Big 12 with a usage percentage of at least 30 percent and a true shooting percentage of at least 60 percent (Kansas' Darryn Peterson and Kansas State's PJ Haggerty). 

BUCKLE UP
Saturday will be a battle against two of the best scorers in the nation in BYU's Dybantsa and K-State's PJ Haggerty. The duo ranks in the 99th percentile in points per 40 minutes (29.5-28.5) while scoring more than four points per game on fast breaks. They also rank in the 99th percentile in free throw attempts per game (8.1-7.6).