AJ Dybantsa continued his impressive showing early on at the Big 12 tournament, scoring a game-high 27 points to lift BYU to a 68-48 victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night in Kansas City, Mo.
BYU (23-10), the 10th seed in the tournament, advanced to the quarterfinals where it will face second seed Houston, ranked No. 5 in the country, on Thursday night.
Dybantsa, one of the top NBA draft prospects who set a freshman tournament record with 40 points in the Cougars’ opening-round victory over Kansas State on Tuesday, finished 11-of-24 from the field with seven rebounds and three assists.
Kennard Davis Jr. had a strong second half for the second straight night, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the final half, and Robert Wright III added 11 points and six assists for the Cougars.
The Mountaineers (18-14) were led by Honor Huff’s 17 points. Brenen Lorient added 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Jasper Floyd finished with nine points and Chance Moore added seven points and seven rebounds.
BYU jumped in front midway through the first half with a 12-1 run, taking a 17-11 lead into the under-eight TV timeout. That stretch ended with a couple of dunks by Dominique Diomande, who finished with six points and two rebounds. The Cougars went on to take a 31-23 lead into the locker room with Dybantsa scoring the final points of the half on a three-point play.
West Virginia closed the gap to three points in the second half, pulling within 43-40 on a jumper by Floyd with 9:36 left, but BYU responded with a 14-2 run. The Cougars extended their lead to 57-42 on a layup by Davis at the 4:15 mark, sparking the eventual 20-point winning margin.
As a team, West Virginia turned it over a season-high 22 times and the 48 points matched a season low set in a 77-48 loss to Houston on Jan. 13.
