AJ Dybantsa and Rob Wright shouldered the scoring load in the second half and BYU’s role players came up with big plays as BYU beat Texas Tech 82-76 on Saturday night in Provo.
BYU trailed by eight points at halftime after the Red Raiders made a 12-19 halftime three-point play. BYU’s defense isn’t bad, but Tech showed why they are the best 3-point shooting team in the league with several great shots. BYU hit some 3-pointers in the first half and kept Texas Tech from getting out of hand in the game.
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Rob Wright scored 27 points (23 in the second half) and AJ Dybantsa added 21 points. Kennard Davis started the game 0-for-5 from three-point range, but ended up scoring 16 points on 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Khadim Mbupu came off the bench for 26 minutes and limited Christian Andersen’s attack for much of the second half. Texas Tech shot 12-19 from three-point range in the first half, but only 4-16 in the second half.
With the win at Texas Tech, BYU has now won one of seven Final Four games and appears to be positioned as a No. 6 or No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Next up for BYU is the Big 12 Tournament, where they are a No. 10 seed and will face Kansas State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. If BYU wins, they will face seventh-seeded West Virginia in the quarterfinals.