March 10, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) slaps hands with BYU Cougars guard Robert Wright III (1) after the second half of the game against the Kansas State Wildcats at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Image AJ Dybantsa scored 40 points, Kennard Davis Jr. had 15 in the second half and BYU rolled to a 105-91 win over Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday night at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
The 10th-seeded Cougars (22-10) face seventh-seeded West Virginia in the second round Wednesday night.
BYU turned a tight game into a loss in the second half. They went on a 12-0 run to take a 92-73 lead on Khadim Mboup’s dunk at 5:32. That stretch also included 3 from Davis, who had four triples in the second half.
After K-State hit a layup to put the game away, BYU went on another 6-0 spurt. The Cougars reached the century mark when Dybantsa knocked down a couple of free throws with 3:30 left.
Along with his 40-point performance, Dybantsa also had nine rebounds and six assists. Robert Wright III added 14 points for the Cougars, all of which he scored in the first half.
K-State (12-20), the 15th seed, was led by PJ Haggerty’s 27 points. Nate Johnson finished with 19 points, including 14 in the first half, and Kamari McGriff added 13 points.
With K-State’s field goal success rate of 62.1% and BYU’s 56.8% shooting, the first half was a high-scoring comeback victory. The Cougars closed with a 7-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back fast-break dunks from Dybantsa, to take a 50-49 lead into the locker room.
BYU started the second half with back-to-back 3s from Aleksej Kostic and Davis, quickly extending its lead to 56-49 and never trailing until the end.
BYU finished the game shooting 54.8% from the field compared to K-State’s 50.8%.
K-State will turn its attention to its coaching search after firing Jerome Tang midseason. Matthew Driscoll took over as interim coach and went 2-5 in seven games.
–Field level media
