No. 13 BYU, No. 14 Kansas face-off on Saturday in Lawrence

PROVO, Utah - No. 13 BYU begins its two-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 31, when the Cougars head to the Sunflower State for a Top 15 matchup against No. 14 Kansas. Tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. 

WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call.

A BUSINESS TRIP
Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs and BYU's third-ever trip to Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas holds a 4-3 advantage in the series but the Cougars have won both of their meetings since they joined the Big 12 conference including overcoming a 12-point deficit to win at Allen Fieldhouse in 2024.

Second-year head coach Kevin Young won his only previous meeting against Kansas as the Cougars defeated the No. 23 ranked Jayhawks 91-57 on Feb. 18, 2025 in Provo. In their first-ever meeting against KU at the Marriott Center, BYU knocked down 14 3-pointers en route to the largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent in program history. Richie Saunders scored a game-high 22 points for the Cougars as the Riverton native went 9-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. Keba Keita was a rebound short of a double-double, finishing with 10 points, nine rebounds an a pair of blocks. 

A win on Saturday for the Cougars would make them one of two Big 12 programs to have won a current three-game win streak over Kansas. Houston has won three straight over the Jayhawks after dropping their first-ever meeting as Big 12 foes. 

IN 200 FEET, TAKE A (W)RIGHT TURN AT THE STOP SIGN
Robert Wright III had scored in double figures in nine straight games until being held to seven points in the setback to No. 1 Arizona. That streak may have ended but the sophomore knocked down a 3-pointer for a 18th straight, tied for the eighth-longest streak in a single season in program history with Alex Barcello and Chase Fischer. 

Wright III has 36 3-pointers in 20 games this season which is five more than he hit in 35 appearances last season as a true freshman at Baylor. He is shooting 43.4 percent from behind the arc which is the 16th highest percentage in a single season in program history.

A PIECE OF THE KIT KAT KEITA BAR
Keba Keita was named to the 2026 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List on Thursday, making him one of five players from the Big 12 to make the cut. 

WATCHLIST 👀 pic.twitter.com/MBtbQtwJMh

— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 29, 2026

The senior does more than blocks shots as he is shooting 68.4 percent from the field this season which would break his own program record from last season (min. 50 field goals made). 

As of Thursday morning, Keita also owns the 10th highest career field goal percentage among all NCAA menís basketball players with the native of Bamako, Mali going 331-of-516 during his collegiate career that includes stops at Utah and BYU. 

FEATHER IN YOUR CAP
Kevin Young and the Cougars are 6-8 against ranked opponents since he was named the head coach in April 2024. After losing the first three ranked matchups of his head coaching career, BYU picked up wins over No. 23 Kansas, No. 19 Arizona, No. 10 Iowa State and No. 12 Iowa State with the wins over the Wildcats and Cyclones coming away from the Marriott Center. 

The Cougars are 1-3 against ranked opponents this season with the lone win coming against No. 23 Wisconsin at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Saturday's game is also the Cougars second Top 15 matchup on the road in the past two weeks, falling 84-71 to No. 15 Texas on Jan. 17 in Lubbock.

WISE BEYOND HIS YEARS
Saturday's matchup at Allen Fieldhouse will be a showdown between the top two recruits in SCNext 100, BYU's AJ Dybantsa and Kansas' Darryn Peterson. Both players have lived up to the hype with Dybantsa (who turned 19 on Thursday) on track to break BYU's freshman scoring record that has stood since 1978 when Danny Ainge scored 632 points in 30 games. 

Through 20 games, Dybantsa has a 19-point lead over Ainge following his 24-point performance against No. 1 Arizona on Monday. The 6-foot-9 forward has also scored in double figures in all 20 games this season which is tied with Colorado's Alec Burks for third-longest streak to begin a career in Big 12 history. 

EVEN STEVENS
It's been a tale of two halves for most of the season for the Cougars as they scored 52 points in the second half in the setback to No. 1 Arizona marking the ninth time this season they have scored 50-plus in the second half.

According to CBB Analytics, BYU ranks first in the nation in offensive rating (137.7) and second in Net Rating (33.2) in the second half this season compared to ranking 90th in offensive rating (110.6) in the first half and 68th in Net Rating (12.3).