We’ll get our first chance to watch Kevin Young’s new squad this Saturday when BYU travels to Lincoln to play Nebraska in the first of two exhibition games. Exhibition games do not count against a teams total record and is essentially a preseason game.
This game tips off at 11am MT/12pm CT Saturday on B1G+. B1G+ is $12.99 for one month, but if you enter the code “GAMEON” at checkout you can get a month for free and then cancel after the game. I used the promo code and got the free month.
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BYU and Nebraska by the Numbers
BYU KenPom: 18
EvanMiya: 9
AP Poll: 8
Nebraska KenPom: 51
EvanMiya: 51
AP Poll: n/a
Nebraska Overview
The Huskers finished towards the bottom of the Big 10 last year after a 17-14 regular season, but salvaged their season with a 4-game run through Las Vegas the win the College Basketball Crown. Looking to this season, Nebraska was picked to finish 14 out of 18 teams in the annual Preseason Big 10 Media Poll conducted by The Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star.
The Huskers are lost their top two scorers from last season, notably All-Big 10 guard Brice Williams who averaged 20 ppg.
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Their top player is senior big man Rienk Mast, who missed all of last season with a knee injury after earning Third-Team All Big 10 honors in 2024. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 12.3 and 7.5 rebounds on 35% shooting from three. The sixth-year senior can will be a good matchup for BYU’s frontcourt as a guy that can post up or stretch the floor as the five. Mast told media earlier this week that he will play versus BYU. I am particularly curious to see if BYU gives Xavion Staton some run to matchup against Mast. Mast is 24 years old, and Xavion guarding someone 6 years older than him in his first live college action will be valuable experience.
Sharpshooting senior Connor Essegian returns after averaging 11.7 ppg for the Cornhuskers, and the transfer class was highlighted by Pryce Sandfort, who averaged 9 points on 40% shooting from three.
Hoiberg announced the below 5 players will be the starting lineup for BYU.
1- Jamarques Lawerence, 6-foot-3 — Rhode Island transfer; 9.9 ppg game LY
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2- Cale Jacobsen, 6-foot-4 — Returnee, averaged 1.2 ppg LY
3- Pryce Sandfort, 6-foot-7 — Iowa transfer, 9 ppg LY
4- Berke Buyuktuncel, 6-foot-10 — Returning starter, 6 ppg LY
5- Rienk Mast, 6-foot-10 — Returnee, averaged 12.3 ppg in 2023-2024
Prediction
I won’t make a score prediction for this game since coaches will experiment with different lineups and likely hold guys out. Kevin Young held out Rob Wright, Nate Pickens, and Dawson Baker in last week’s Blue-White scrimmage. All three have been practicing and likely would play if this were a regular season game, but KY may be cautious. KY indicated that Rob Wright should be available for this game.
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This is the type of game AJ Dybantsa should dominate. Berke Buyuktuncel is a versatile four man, but he does not have the lateral quickness to guard AJ. I am really curious how BYU utilizes AJ to exploit that matchup on offense; AJ will have many mismatches this season, so seeing how teams help on AJ and how AJ responds with the ball in his hands will be fascinating. I want to see the action BYU puts AJ in to 1) set up isolation situations where he can get to the rim and 2) draw help from defense to set up his playmaking ability.
I am also curious to see BYU’s rotation at the five spot. Keba Keita is the undisputed starter and will dominate minutes, but how does BYU shuffle the backup five minutes among Xavion Staton, Mihailo Boskovic, and even Khadim Mboup.
This is BYU’s lone true road game before Big 12 play and should be a solid crowd. The Nebraska football game is the day before, so there should be a solid turnout and a real environment for BYU to work through.
Nebraska is a good test and some of their perimeter shooting and Mast on the inside will give BYU a good early chance to work through some of the kinks and toy with different lineups. Even if BYU holds some guys out, AJ and Richie should be enough to carry BYU to a comfortable exhibition win, especially if Rob Wright is in the lineup.
