PROVO, Utah — Robert Wright III’s 39-point surge and AJ Dybantsa’s double-double powered the No. 22 Cougars to a 90-86 overtime victory over Colorado on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
“Glad we got the win today, bottom line,” head coach Kevin Young said. “The Big 12 is a tough league, and it’s hard to win. We had a lot working against us today, and I’m proud of our guys for stepping up. We had some guys come off the bench today and make huge plays for us.”
A day when Jimmer Fredette's No. 32 was raised to the rafters, Wright III scored a career-high 39 points on 12-of-16 from the field, a perfect 4-of-4 from deep and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. This marked the sophomore’s second 30-point effort of his career, both of which coming in consecutive outings. Wright III also tacked on five boards and four assists in the victory
In spite of shooting struggles, Dybantsa picked up his third-career double-double with a statline of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists on 6-of-20 shooting, 1-of-6 from three and 6-of-8 from the line. Dybantsa’s defensive impact was felt as evidenced by his three steals and one block in the afternoon.
To fill in for Saunders’ absence, the bench produced 18 points compared to the Buffaloes six in the overtime win. Aleksej Kostic, Tyler Mrus and Mihailo Boskovic combined for 15 of those 18 points including a 5-of-8 from three to give BYU an extra scoring punch. Abdullah Ahmed provided some defensive energy around the rim off the bench with five blocks.
BYU outshot Colorado from the field 46.8 percent to 44 percent, including 50 percent to 28.1 percent from three. In addition, the Cougars won the rebounding effort 46 to 39.
First Half
Kennard Davis Jr. got scoring going for the Cougars with a driving layup. Two and a half minutes later, Wright III knocked down a transition three from the wing after a Keba Keita steal. Dybantsa connected with Keita on an alley-oop to give the Cougars a 9-4 lead five minutes into the contest.
The next two minutes featured both teams exchanging two three-pointers each. Wright III hit one from the left corner off a Dybantsa drive, and Mrus knocked down one from the other corner in that span. It did not take long for Mrus to get his second three from the same spot on a pump fake which fooled a Buffalo defender. Midway through the first, BYU went up 18-14.
The Buffaloes come out of the TV timeout on a 7-0 run to retake the lead. Wright III put a stop to that with driving layups on two consecutive trips down the floor. Kostic and Boskovic proceeded to hit BYU’s fifth and sixth threes of the half, respectively. With 4:15 remaining, Dybantsa drained the Cougars’ seventh three from the wing off a Boskovic cross-court pass. BYU stayed ahead of Colorado 33-27.
Counting his last bucket, Dybantsa closed the quarter scoring the final seven points of the half for BYU. The nation’s leading scorer took his own steal coast-to-coast then followed that with a contested elbow jumper on the Cougars’ final play of the half. Although the Buffaloes hit a three as time expired, BYU went into the locker room up 37-32.
Second Half
Davis Jr. opened the half with a pair of free throws before Colorado went on a 13-0 run to go up six at the 15:20 mark. The Cougars clawed back with a Wright bucket in the lane, a Dybantsa midrange and a Khadim Mboup finish on the break off his own steal and a lob from Davis Jr. Despite two-straight three by the Buffaloes, Wright III brought BYU right back into it with free throws and a driving floater. That tied it up, 51-51 with 12:22 left.
Dybantsa countered a three and two free throws by Colorado with a contested midrange jumper then a kick-out pass to Davis Jr. for a right-corner three after a Buffalo layup. Then, Wright III kept his hot shooting going with a basket in the lane off a Dybantsa steal, then drained a top-of-the-key three for his third of the afternoon. Wright III answered a Colorado alley-oop dunk with his fourth three in as many attempts off a Dybantsa swing pass. The Cougars led 69-62 with 6:20 to go.
Dybantsa drove baseline for a lefty reverse to keep the lead at seven with five minutes to play. After the Buffaloes cut the lead to two, Wright III went on to earn his career-high in points with back-to-back driving layups with the latter being a converted and-1. Colorado would not go away as it responded with a second-chance three-pointer and a jumper to make the BYU lead two, 78-76, with 1:45 remaining.
The Cougars did not score a point for the rest of regulation. In the Buffaloes’ last possession, guard Isaiah Johnson drove it with his left for a layup to tie it up 78-78. The game proceeded to go to overtime after the Cougars failed to score on their final play of regulation.
Overtime
BYU’s first minute of overtime action this season went by with neither team scoring until Wright III took it to the cup for another floater to get the scoring started. An immediate response by the Buffaloes was followed by a Davis Jr. driving layup on the baseline off a Wright III dime. Cougars go up 82-80 halfway through overtime.
Colorado tied it up on a pair of free throws after an offensive board, then Kostic drained a left-wing three off a Wright III kick out to give BYU the lead once again. The Cougars went on to finish the job by knocking down their free throws to secure the 90-86 overtime victory.
Up Next
BYU will head south to the Tucson desert for a rematch against No. 1 Arizona Wildcats on Wednesday, Feb. 18th at 7 p.m. MST.