KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — AJ Dybantsa had 27 points in another brilliant Big 12 Tournament performance, Kennard Davis Jr. added 20 points, and No. 10 seed BYU beat seventh-seeded West Virginia 68-48 on Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinal round.
Robert Wright III also had 11 points before a crowd that included BYU alum and Chiefs coach Andy Reid along with his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes — whose No. 16 Texas Tech plays seventh-ranked Iowa State in the first quarterfinal Thursday.
As for the Cougars (23-10), their second win in as many days earned them a quarterfinal matchup with fifth-ranked Houston.
Honor Huff had 17 points for West Virginia (18-14), which had beaten BYU a couple of weeks ago. Brenen Lorient finished with 11.
Dybantsa was downright dominant in the Cougars’ first-round win over Kansas State on Tuesday night, pouring in 40 points — three off the single-game Big 12 Tournament record set by Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary — to go with nine rebounds and six assists.
Nothing much changed against the Mountaineers.
Dybantsa gave BYU the lead for good with his bucket with 9:36 left in the first half, and that was just the start of the highlights. He scored on a myriad of Euro-step layups, pull-up jumpers and rim-rattling dunks. The most impressive came in the final minute of the half, when he stole the ball from Lorient and threw down a dunk while getting fouled.
The three-point play gave the Cougars a 31-23 at the break.
West Virginia was still within 47-42 after Chance Moore’s put-back dunk with 8:02 to go. But Wright scored at the other end for BYU, launching a 10-0 run over the next five minutes that sent the Cougars into the quarterfinal round.
Up next
BYU lost to second-seeded Houston in its only meeting on Feb. 7 in Provo, Utah.
The Mountaineers await their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday.
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The Associated Press
