Forgive BYU point guard Rob Wright III for being a little surprised when he ran to the Huntsman Center court Saturday night to watch a basketball rivalry game between the No. 9 Cougars and the home Utes.
“The last time I played Utah, there were no fans here,” the Baylor transfer told BYU Sports Radio Network after scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists in BYU’s 89-84 win in front of 15,558 fans.
advertise
Welcome to competition, Rob, as the saying goes, records and statistics and all that stuff can really be thrown out the window.
As a 14-point underdog, Utah (0-3, 8-8), spurred by one of the best performances by a Utah student in recent memory, pushed the ninth-ranked Cougars to a bitter end, cutting a 13-point deficit to within one with 3:15 left.
“I usually look at statistics and this and that, but statistics don’t matter in a game like this,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “I thought it was a good, hard-earned win.”
Young said because of what happened last year, he knew it was going to be a tough game regardless of the Utes’ mediocre record and now four-game losing streak.
advertise
In Young’s first game at the Huntsman Center, an equally talented BYU team fell 73-72 in overtime.
“Competitive games are the way they are for a reason,” Young said. “It makes it really fun. I agree with AJ (Dybantsa), it’s just a fun environment.
“As a competitor, there’s nothing better than going into someone else’s building and beating them in their building, especially when that opponent is a long-time rival of yours.”
It was a “Welcome to the Big 12” moment for me
BYU star AJ Dybantsa talks Utah atmosphere
The rematch will take place on Jan. 24 at the Marriott Center (3:30 p.m. MST, FOX), and BYU will likely be heavily favored and try not to let go of the Utes in a showdown with the team now ranked No. 1. Two days later (January 26), they defeated No. 1 Arizona State in Provo.
advertise
Before then, the Cougars, who have won 12 straight games and 11 straight Big 12 regular-season games, will host TCU (1-2, 11-5) on Wednesday before traveling to No. 14 Texas Tech on Saturday.
Despite the thousands of BYU fans in attendance — a crowd that, to this observer, was half BYU and half Utah — DiBanza said it was the most hostile environment he had faced since his high school days.
“This is a ‘Welcome to the Big 12’ moment for me,” the junior said after scoring 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting and 8-for-12 free throws.
DiBanza has now scored 20 or more points in nine straight games, the most by a Big 12 freshman since Oklahoma’s Trae Young did it in 2017-18.
advertise
Additionally, DiBanza became the first Division I freshman in the past 30 seasons to score 20 or more points in nine consecutive games while shooting 50 percent from the field, according to ESPN Research.
Utah students did their best to anger DiBanza, but with little success.
“I’ve been dealing with this since I was 13 years old. I’ve been getting hateful comments, hateful phrases, sayings during the game,” he said.
“I’ve heard it all, so I just have to play my part and make the right decision.”
BYU remained at No. 9 in the NET rankings on Sunday, while Utah jumped from 143 to 133.
That means Saturday’s win becomes a 2-for-4 for BYU, as a road win against a 76-135 team in the NET is considered a 2-for-4.
advertise
Wisconsin beat previously undefeated Michigan State on Saturday to move up from 53rd to 40th in the Nets rankings, and BYU is now 1-in-4 with a 98-70 win over the Badgers on Nov. 21 at the Delta Center, including five for BYU.
So why did the high-flying Cougars, who beat Arizona State 104-76 last Wednesday at the Marriott Center, struggle to beat the Utes? First, as mentioned earlier, this is a competitive game at Utah’s home court.
They were almost always tight and chaotic, and the tenor changed when BYU’s Keba Keita got into foul trouble in the first half.
The Cougars also missed 10 free throws, including two front-end penalties in the final six minutes.
advertise
“I mean, there’s no free throw plan. Either you step up and shoot the free throw or you don’t shoot the free throw. That’s the bottom line,” Young said.
“I believe all of us can make free throws down the stretch and that’s something we have to continue to work on and we will.”
Cougar in the air
TCU (1-2, 11-5) No. 9 BYU (3-0, 15-1)
• Wednesday 9 p.m. MST
• At the Marriott Center
• Provo, Utah
• TV: ESPN2
Radio: BYU Radio 107.9 FM/BYURadio.org/BYU Radio App