A couple of the nation’s leading scorers will square off when BYU and Kansas State meet in the first round of the Big 12 tournament on Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo.
The Cougars (21-10), the 10th seed in the tournament, boast AJ Dybantsa, who leads the country with 24.7 points per game. The Wildcats (12-19) lean on PJ Haggerty, who is tied for third in the country with 23.3 points per game.
BYU is prepping for a March Madness run behind Dybantsa, projected as one of the top picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. He has hit the 20-point mark in each of the last 10 games, including 21 points in BYU’s 82-76 victory over then-No. 10 Texas Tech on Saturday.
The victory ended a three-game skid and served as a reminder that BYU can play with anyone in the country, even though it suffered a significant setback last month when Richie Saunders was lost with a season-ending ACL injury.
Asked about the statement win afterward, BYU coach Kevin Young said: “We had to do some soul-searching. I had to do a lot of thinking. What the conclusion of that was, we’ve got to simplify things and just dumb it down and not try to get cute on defense.”
Along with Dybantsa, Robert Wright III is a consistent threat. He led the Cougars with 27 points in the win over Texas Tech. As a team, BYU has the second-highest scoring offense in the league, averaging 84.3 points per game.
For the 15th-seeded Wildcats, Haggerty is their best option on offense. He had 21 points — as did Nate Johnson — in a 104-85 loss at then-No. 14 Kansas on Saturday. However, this is a team that has lost four of its last five games and 10 of 12.
The program is in the midst of an overhaul after the midseason firing of coach Jerome Tang. Still, interim coach Matthew Driscoll praised the staff and players for riding it out. The squad went 3-15 in Big 12 play.
“These guys are playing for contracts,” Driscoll said. “They’re playing for contracts either next season in the NCAA, or they’re playing for contracts professionally. Our staff is trying to get a job. There are so many different things that marketability is focused on. What you do is always going to be there, because the video doesn’t lie.”
When these teams met in the regular season on Jan. 3 in Manhattan, Kan., BYU won 83-73.
The winner of the contest faces No. 7 seed West Virginia on Wednesday.
