AJ Dybantsa drew most of the headlines following BYU’s upset of No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday night, and understandably so.
The freshman phenom enjoyed arguably his finest performance to date, scoring 29 points with 10 rebounds, nine assists and outstanding defense.
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However, some of BYU’s more unheralded players were just as crucial in securing Saturday’s much-needed, confidence-boosting signature victory.
With Richie Saunders out for the season, Dybantsa and Rob Wright III have and will continue to shoulder a much heavier load (each star played all 40 minutes against Iowa State), but against the Cyclones, for the first time in nearly a month, every BYU player (not including Saunders) combined to outscore Dybantsa and Wright.
Kennard Davis Jr., Mihailo Boskovic, Keba Keita and Khadim Mboup provided a collective 44 points and 25 rebounds, marking BYU’s highest non-Brig 3 scoring output in a single game since Dec. 13 against UC Riverside.
“I think there’s a lot to be said about opportunity and confidence. Those guys understand that now that Richie is out, their numbers are going to get called more,” BYU head coach Kevin Young said.
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“… I think it’s a little bit easier to get into a rhythm when you have that mindset, but at the same time, they get all the credit because they’ve stayed ready and they’ve been able to deliver.”
On Saturday the tone was set from the jump, as BYU’s first seven points of the contest came outside of Dybantsa and Wright — Keita caught a lob for a slam dunk, Boskovic hit a 3-pointer and Davis got a layup from an offensive rebound.
“It was nice. It definitely helps your confidence, especially, because it takes a load off of (Dybantsa) and Rob at the beginning of the game, and then it kind of picks up the wind towards the end of the first half,” Boskovic said of the hot start.
Additionally, seven of the Cougars’ final eight made field goals in the second half came from that same group, along with Mboup.
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Davis finished as BYU’s second-leading scorer with 17 points (including three 3-pointers) and also grabbed four offensive rebounds.
At a crucial moment in the second half, he threw down a dunk in transition to prompt an Iowa State timeout and triple-digit decibel response from the Marriott Center crowd.
“I was surprised he even did that,” a tongue in cheek Dybantsa said postgame. “That (vertical leap), I didn’t know he had it in him.”
Boskovic, who made his second straight appearance in the starting five as Saunders’ replacement, set a new career-high with 13 points and added five rebounds.
“I did my role off the ball, going to rebound, playing defense and shooting up shots. It manifested itself today,” Boskovic said.
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The senior from Serbia had been rather ineffective earlier in the week against Arizona, missing three early shots and finishing scoreless despite being a starter.
Thus, making his first 3-pointer against Iowa State was “major,” as he put it.
Boskovic did miss his next six triples before finally sinking another one late in the second half, but in all, the 5 of 11 shooting night with two makes from long distance made for a job well done and plenty of reasons to believe he can have similar outings going forward.
“The coaching staff was telling me to stick to (shooting), and toward the end, it paid off. It feels good,” Boskovic said.
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Keita, who broke out of a recent slump with an encouraging effort at Arizona, scored nine points with six rebounds, three steals and a block on Saturday.
The lone bench player to factor into Saturday’s success, Mboup scored five points but grabbed 10 rebounds — nine in the first half alone — while posting a team-best 70.4 defensive rating, meaning Iowa State would only score 70.4 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
“Khadim’s a warrior,” Young said. “He’s got a knack for rebounding. He’s an unbelievable rebounder. He’s a highly competitive young man. You can’t put a stat on (his) energy and how it permeates the group.”
Young has continually said that BYU is in the process of reinventing itself to overcome the loss of Saunders. Not only did Saturday’s showing go a long way for such a pursuit, but it gave the Cougars a new dose of belief — the value of which can’t be overstated at this point of the season.
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“I think a lot of people counted us out when Richie went down, and I think this shows everybody that we’re not going away, we’re not going anywhere,” Young said on BYU’s postgame radio show.“… Without trying to sound dramatic, (beating Iowa State) was the most important thing that’s happened this season, arguably since I’ve been the coach here. We needed to win. We needed a moment.
“It’s hard to keep going to the locker room and just telling the guys you’re right there or you’re right there, so to finally be able to push it over, crack that rock open, and now the challenge is going to be able to understand why we were able to do that and then be able to build on it.”
BYU players talk as they huddle between plays during an NCAA basketball game against Iowa State held at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
