SALT LAKE CITY – AJ Dybantsa got his first taste of the BYU-Utah rivalry on the hardwood.
The BYU basketball star participated in the rivalry game for the first time on Saturday night as No. 9 BYU defeated Utah 89-84 at the Huntsman Center.
It was a loud crowd of 15,558, with many attendees being BYU fans.
Dybantsa finished with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal in 37 minutes of play to help BYU get its first win at the Huntsman Center since November of 2021.
It was the ninth consecutive game that Dybantsa has finished with 20 points in a game. He’s currently the fourth leading scorer in the country at 23.1 points per game this season.
AJ Dybantsa on first BYU-Utah experience: “That was crazy”
The Brockton, Massachusetts, native was asked for his impressions of his first experience of the BYU-Utah rivalry.
Like anyone who experiences this rivalry, he was impressed.
“Boy, that was crazy. That was super hostile,” Dybantsa said. “Besides my high school days, that rivalry, that’s probably like the most hostile environment I’ve been in. That was really like a welcome to the Big 12 moment for me.”
Dybantsa and the ninth-ranked Cougars will get a chance to sweep the regular season series against Utah in two weeks when they host the Utes at the Marriott on January 24.
It will be a much friendlier crowd towards Dybantsa than the one he experienced in Salt Lake on Saturday.
Throughout the game, Utah’s student section, “The MUSS,” was chanting “over-rated” at Dybantsa if he missed a shot or made a mistake.
“I’ve been dealing with this since I was 13,” Dybantsa said when asked how he handles being the target of opposing fans. “I’ve been getting hate comments, hate phrases, sayings during games, I’ve heard it all, so I mean, I’ve just got to play my game and make the right decision.”
Dybantsa and BYU basketball return to action on Wednesday, January 14, when they host the TCU Horned Frogs at 9 p.m. (MST) on ESPN2 and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
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