Kansas basketball survives late charge to defeat BYU, AJ Dybantsa

LAWRENCE, Kan. — From the media seating to the student section — to the rest of Allen Fieldhouse — it was hard to move an inch.

Officially, 15,300 fans packed Allen Fieldhouse Saturday, but there were likely even more in attendance in a crowd that reached standing-room only.

From rowdy KU fans to Jayhawk legends like Paul Pierce and the Morris Twins to dozens of NBA front-office personnel, all eyes in college basketball were fixed on Lawrence. And for one reason:

The star-studded matchup between potential top-3 NBA draft picks Darryn Peterson of Kansas and AJ Dybantsa of BYU.

Naturally, the energy inside Allen Fieldhouse was fantastic. And for a half, the matchup lived up to the hype.

The second half, though, belonged to the Jayhawks, as No. 14 Kansas outlasted No. 13 BYU 90-82. The Jayhawks (16-5, 6-2 Big 12) have won five straight overall.

While it was the Peterson show in the first half, Bryson Tiller led the Jayhawks in scoring overall with 21 points and seven rebounds. Peterson added 18 points and three rebounds. He did not play the final 16 minutes.

The Jayhawks also celebrated Saturday’s contest as their 1,000th official men’s basketball game in Allen Fieldhouse — though it’s worth noting that mark actually occurred earlier this season. Kansas is not counting the games in 2018 vacated due to NCAA penalties in that total.

Peterson, who missed the last game due to an ankle sprain and is still managing cramping issues, played 20 minutes, with just three coming in the second half.

The game was a blowout early but got interesting late.

The Jayhawks led 53-33 at half, shooting 64.3% from the floor. After leading by as many as 21 points, KU watched the Cougars come roaring back to pull within four, 82-78, with 1:27 left.

The ever-clutch Melvin Council responded with a mid-range jumper that put Kansas up six points. On the next possession, BYU’s Richie Saunders, who erupted for 33 points, missed a 3-pointer. KU’s Jamari McDowell was fouled on the ensuing rebound and clinched the game by making both free throws.

Up next for KU: The Jayhawks travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face No. 11 Texas Tech on Monday.

Until then, here are three takeaways from Saturday’s matchup:

Peterson vs. Dybantsa ... for limited minutes

The rivalry between Peterson and Dybantsa has plenty of history.

Peterson transferred to Prolific Prep before his senior season in part so he could play against Dybantsa. Meanwhile, Dybantsa transferred to Utah Prep from Prolific Prep.

In their two matchups in high school, Peterson came out on top. In their second matchup, Peterson scored 58 points while Dybantsa had 49.

Now, Peterson and Dybantsa are competing with Duke’s Cameron Boozer to be selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA draft. In fact, there were at least 32 NBA front-office members present in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday.

There was huge hype around this matchup, and some impressive performances followed. At times, the players were matched up on each other, but KU primarily used Flory Bidunga to guard Dybantsa, while BYU (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) used a variety of players on Peterson.

The first half belonged to the KU freshman. While Peterson scored at will, Dybantsa didn’t get his first points until 7:22 remained in the half. He had only seven points with two turnovers at the break.

Peterson, meanwhile, was on fire. He scored 18 first-half points on a blistering 6-for-7 shooting clip. He also had three steals.

The pair didn’t share the floor much in the second half. Peterson left the game with 16:46 left and didn’t return. Dybantsa had a better second half than first. He finished with 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

KU’s red-hot shooting

It felt like the Jayhawks couldn’t miss on 3-pointers in the first half. Kansas shot 9for 12 (75%) from 3 in the period. They took a 19-point lead on a 3 at the 7:40 mark and a 21-point lead with another at the 3:31 mark in the period.

Peterson and Tiller combined to make six 3s on seven attempts in the period.

Kansas scored 53 points in the first half alone. According to ESPN, that’s tied for the most first-half points the Jayhawks have scored against a ranked team in the Bill Self era.

The Jayhawks cooled down in the second half, particularly with Peterson sidelined, but finished shooting 57.1% from the field and 50% from 3.

KU keeps on winning

A lot has changed since early January. When KU basketball started Big 12 play, there was a real fear that the Jayhawks could be in jeopardy of a low NCAA tournament seed. Those fears grew after a 1-2 start to league play (11-5 overall record) and loss to West Virginia.

The Jayhawks’ defense had been exposed after looking like a major strength in nonconference play. But since that loss, that same defense has flipped the switch.

Saturday marked the first time since Jan. 10 that a KU opponent scored more than 70 points. The Jayhawks certainly made things difficult on BYU’s superstar prospect and scored 15 points off BYU turnovers.

The Jayhawks tried to force someone besides Dybantsa to beat them. Saunders nearly had a performance for the ages, but KU did enough to earn the win.

KU also handed BYU its second straight loss overall.

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