AJ Dybantsa has been one of the best players in college basketball this season. The star forward is now preparing to lead his BYU Cougars into the Big 12 Tournament this week.
The Cougars’ second matchup will be against the West Virginia Mountaineers, who beat them at the end of February. Ahead of the rematch, Dybantsa is making it known he hasn’t forgotten about that loss.
AJ Dybantsa Warns West Virginia Ahead of Rematch
In the Big 12 Tournament, the Cougars are the #10 seed while the Mountaineers are the #7 seed. The Mountaineers had a first-round bye while the Cougars knocked off the #15 Kansas State Wildcats.
In the one-and-only regular season meeting between BYU and West Virginia, the Mountaineers escaped with a 79-71 victory. Dybantsa ended that game with 20 points and seven rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win.
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Now, the phenom gets a chance to stay alive in the conference tournament and get revenge at the same time. Asked for his thoughts on the matchup, Dybantsa didn’t hold back.
“Should be good. I played horrible, the team played horrible, at West Virginia,” Dybantsa said. “We owe them one.”
“We owe them one.” 😤
AJ Dybantsa on the team’s mindset going into their rematch against West Virginia. pic.twitter.com/5hhuWLkaAQ
— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) March 11, 2026
As Dybantsa mentioned, that first game certainly wasn’t the Cougars’ best performance of the season. The team was dominated in the paint, getting outscored and outrebounded by 10.
That loss came in the middle of a rough stretch for the Cougars, during which the team lost four of five games. It seems like Dybantsa’s squad is back on the right track, though, after knocking off a ranked Texas Tech team to end the regular season and winning in the first round of the conference tournament.
Dybantsa was considered to be a top prospect for the 2026 NBA Draft even before this season started. The forward has done nothing to change that, and with a solid postseason, could cement himself as the No. 1 pick.
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Dybantsa is averaging 25.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 52.0% from the field and 33.8% from deep. Even if the Cougars don’t get far in the Big 12 Tournament, they’re in good shape to get a top-eight seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cougars face the Mountaineers on Wednesday night, and the winner will advance to the quarterfinals to take on the #2 Houston Cougars.
