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BYU basketball: Why did the No. 9 Cougars struggle to put away the so-so Utes?

Story byBYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) reacts after a whistle as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in in Salt Lake City, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret NewsJay DrewSun, January 11, 2026 at 11:43 PM UTC·4 min readForgive BYU point guard Rob Wright III for being a little bit surprised when he ran out onto the Huntsman Center court for Saturday night’s basketball rivalry game between the No.

BYU basketball: Why did the No. 9 Cougars struggle to put away the so-so Utes?

Credit: Yahoo

Key Highlights

  • 9 Cougars and homestanding Utes.“The last time I played Utah there were no fans here,” the Baylor transfer told the BYU Sports Radio Network after scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists in BYU’s 89-84 win in front of 15,558 nerve-wracked fans. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWelcome to the rivalry, Rob, where records and statistics and all those things can really be thrown out the window, as the saying goes. As 14-point underdogs and spurred by the biggest showing of Utah students in recent memory, the Utes (0-3, 8-8) pushed the No.
  • 9 Cougars to the bitter end, rallying from a 13-point deficit to within a point with 3:15 remaining.“I usually get into stats, this and that, but stats don’t matter in a game like this,” said BYU coach Kevin Young.
  • “I thought it was a good, hard-fought win.”Young said he knew it would be a tough place to get a win, regardless of the Utes’ so-so record and now four-game losing streak, because of what happened last year. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA similarly talented BYU team lost 73-72 in overtime in Young’s first taste of the rivalry at the Huntsman Center.“Rivalry games are like that for a reason,” Young said.
  • “It makes it super fun.
  • I agree with AJ (Dybantsa), that it was just a fun environment.“There is nothing better as a competitor to go into somebody else’s building and beat them in their building, especially when it is against someone you have a long-standing rivalry with.”It was a ‘welcome to the Big 12’ moment for meBYU star AJ Dybantsa on atmosphere at UtahThe rematch is on Jan.
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Sources

  1. BYU basketball: Why did the No. 9 Cougars struggle to put away the so-so Utes?

This quick summary is automatically generated using AI based on reports from multiple news sources. The content has not been reviewed or verified by humans. For complete details, accuracy, and context, please refer to the original published articles.

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