LAS VEGAS — For a few moments in the second half Monday night, it appeared that No. 8 BYU’s debut on the college basketball big stage was going to be a complete and utter bust, to use a phrase bandied about in this gambling town.
Heavily favored, the Cougars had blown a 14-point second half lead to a rebuilt Villanova squad picked to finish seventh in the Big East, and the massive crowd of pro-BYU fans at T-Mobile Arena was turning antsy.
Advertisement
That’s when BYU’s toughness took over, a toughness that, frankly, was not always there last year during the Cougars’ Sweet 16 run.
Trailing by two with 6:28 remaining, the Cougars clamped down defensively to hold Villanova scoreless for nearly the next five minutes and escaped with a 71-66 season-opening win at the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas event.
Senior center Keba Keita led the way, along with another guy who is not among what coach Kevin Young refers to as his headliners, Southern Illinois transfer Kennard “Moo” Davis Jr.
On a night when everyone came out to see the debuts of No. 1 recruit AJ Dybantsa and Baylor transfer Rob Wright III and the return of Richie Saunders, the other guys also came up big, particularly at the defensive end.
Advertisement
“We were imploring these guys to just lock in and get stops. I thought Moo Davis really stepped up defensively. I thought all these guys did,” Young said.
“Obviously (Villanova guard Bryce) Lindsay really got going, so we didn’t do a good enough job on him, but I thought we just found a way to find enough stops there. I think that says a lot about our group.”
It was not an overly impressive performance for the Cougars, or for Dybantsa, who was 9 of 18 from the field for a team-high 21 points.
He added six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes, but was a frosty 2 of 7 from the free-throw line and missed a couple of bunnies at the rim.
Advertisement
But all in all, a win is a win, and BYU was able to overcome giving up 17 offensive rebounds and 31 second-chance points. That’s how Villanova, as a nine-point underdog, made things interest in the second half after the Cougars led 46-32 shortly after halftime.
“It felt really good. A new team for me,” said Wright, who added 14 points on 5 of 16 shooting and had just two turnovers in 31 minutes.
“To go out there in our first game and get a win, I’m super excited, and I’m thankful for AJ and coach Young right here. They just trusted me at the end to make plays.”
Battling an illness, Saunders had an off shooting night — 4 of 13 from the field — but still poured in 15 points and was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line to extend his streak of makes from the charity stripe to 29 dating back to last season.
Advertisement
Keita added seven rebounds, eight points and three blocked shots, including one that he literally swatted into the third row. The big guy also tipped in a Wright miss with 5:52 remaining to tie the score at 59-59 after Villanova had taken the lead on a 3-pointer by Lindsay.
“It’s crazy. I have never played with shot blocker like that. He’s sending stuff to the ninth row and I have never seen that before,” Dybantsa said. “It gives us a lot of energy. Now I’m just gonna start forcing guys to the paint so they can (get swatted).”
This was a game that the Cougars probably would have lost last year, or in former coach Mark Pope’s final season in Provo. But this team seems to have a belief, and a mental toughness, that came and went in 2024-25.
“We got some dogs in our locker room. I thought Keba was incredible in this game. I thought Kennard Davis was equally as physical defensively,” Young said. “… I think it probably shows in the way that we recruited and put this team together.
Advertisement
“We felt like we definitely needed to take a step up defensively, and this was a step in that direction, for sure.”
The next step is to improve their defensive rebounding. It was almost laughable at times how BYU would force Villanova into taking a bad or heavily contested shot but give the underdogs second chance after second chance.
“I’m not smart enough to know what their actual offensive rebounding percentage is,” Young said. “I’ll have to ask my analytics guy on that. However, (Duke) Brennan punked us, honestly, in the first half and in the second half.
“That being said, our defense was pretty solid. We did force misses, but we can’t give up 17 offensive rebounds no matter how many times we make them miss.”
Advertisement
Offensively, the Cougars weren’t particularly crisp, and they shot just 39% from the field. They only attempted 17 3-pointers, which Young says was not by design but a function of how the Wildcats were defending them.
“Honestly, I think it will be a pick-your-poison type thing (moving forward),” Young said. “I thought they were going to protect the paint more than they did.
“That’s what they did in their exhibition game against Virginia, but we have two guys in Rob and AJ that I think can get to the rim against any opponent, any night.”
BYU committed only four turnovers, with one attributed to the team.
Advertisement
“It felt good,” Dybantsa said of his debut, which, combined with the Arizona-Florida matchup earlier Monday night, drew more than 60 NBA scouts and a crowd count of 16,704.
“It was definitely different from the exhibitions (against Nebraska and North Carolina). It just feels good to get a game under my belt and get a win.”
Villanova coach Kevin Willard, in his first season in suburban Philadelphia, lamented some poor shot selection down the stretch, while also crediting BYU’s defensive effort in the final five minutes. He also said it was a “road game” for the Wildcats, due to the heavy presence of BYU fans.
As for going against Dybantsa, Willard had nothing but praise for the freshman expected to be a top pick in next June’s NBA draft.
Advertisement
“First pick, second pick in the draft, which he is,” Willard said. “He’s one of the best high school players I’ve seen come out in a long time. He’s much tougher for a kid his age. He’s the real deal.”
The jury is still out on whether BYU in 2025-26 is the real deal, but at least the Cougars didn’t go bust in their first game of the most highly anticipated season in school history. And in Las Vegas, that has to count for something.
