KANSAS CITY, Mo. — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Duke standout Cameron Boozer and fellow Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson have made it clear this college basketball season that they will be the first three players selected in this summer’s NBA draft.
Divanca wants to prove in the postseason that he deserves to be first.
He poured in 40 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists Tuesday night to lead the 10th-seeded Cougars to a 105-91 victory over 15th-seeded Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.
“Today I just tried to focus on winning,” Divancha said. “It doesn’t matter what it takes to win.”
But Dybantsa didn’t just put up a lot of points. He was efficient, going 15 of 21 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. And while he did have a game-high six turnovers, some of that was because the ball was in his hands on nearly every possession.
There were more possessions that ended in soaring dunks than passes that ended up in Kansas State’s hands.
“It was impressive what he was doing, because I thought he was scoring in every way possible,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “It was probably one of his most complete games. Off the lob, he threw a short ball to Khadim (Mboup) at the end, but I thought that was just a full display of his skill. I think he’s the most skilled player in college basketball.”
Dybantsa nearly matched his career high of 43 points against Utah in January. It is also the single-game Big 12 tournament scoring record, set by Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary on March 11, 2009, against Texas A&M.
“The main goal is to qualify for the championship,” Dybantsa said. “If we need to get 43 points, we’ll try to do that, but we’re not trying to set a record.”
He might have to set some records to win a championship.
Struggling in part due to a knee injury to floor leader Richie Saunders late in the season, the Cougars (22-10) lost a tiebreaker for seeding and fell all the way to No. 10 in the tournament. That meant a first-round game against Kansas State on Wednesday night with every heavyweight in the league resting in their hotels or at home.
Dybantsa had 21 points by halftime, but the Cougars only led 50-49. And they only got that lead because of a turnover that led to his buzzer-beating dunk. Robert Wright III attempted an open dunk of his own, but instead waited to give Dybantsa an easy point.
“This is something we’ve really been doing for our guys all year,” Young said. “We’re obviously talented and try to make simple plays and play together, and sometimes that’s easier said than done. I thought AJ made a lot of unselfish plays as well.”
But when BYU needed a basket, Dybantsa was okay with being a little selfish.
After the Wildcats closed to 64-57, he scored on consecutive runs down the floor. The freshman dunked for BYU when Taj Manning hit a 3-pointer to put Kansas State up 68-63. And moments later, when Manning scored and BYU clung to a 73-67 lead, Dybantsa converted an acrobatic three-point play for some breathing room.
The only cloud over the night was the fact that BYU didn’t leave Kansas State until late and Dybantsa played all but 3 1/2 minutes. With Wednesday’s second-round game against No. 7 West Virginia coming up and three more games left after that, he could use every bit of the rest he can get if the Cougars have fewer nets by Saturday night.
Then again, it’s difficult to sit on the bench and prove that you deserve to be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
