A pair of elite scorers will be on display as No. 10 BYU takes on Kansas State to open Big 12 Conference play Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kan.
How each standout performs may determine which team begins 1-0 in the Big 12 race.
The Cougars are paced by true freshman AJ Dybantsa, and the Wildcats rely on transfer P.J. Haggerty.
But while both players have brought scoring punch to their respective offenses, some of the results have varied.
The explosive Cougars are highly ranked for good reason, not simply boasting an exceptional collection of talent typified by the likes of Dybantsa — the country’s top prospect a year ago — but also backing the pedigree with consistent, productive play that has resulted in a nine-game winning streak and a 12-1 record.
The Wildcats (9-4) have been more up-and-down, sandwiching a four-game losing streak between four- and five-game winning streaks.
Dybantsa (23.1 ppg) and Haggerty (22.9) are Nos. 2 and 3 in the country in scoring entering Saturday’s contest. But while Dybantsa seemingly has gotten stronger as the season has gone along, averaging 29 points over his last five games, Haggerty has been more erratic.
Over his past seven games, Haggerty has scored 24 or more three times, but he also has outputs of 10, 11, 17 and 16 points.
The junior guard had 24 in the team’s most recent game, a 94-85 Sunday win over Louisiana-Monroe that was a somewhat lackluster result.
“I think we can beat anybody in the Big 12, and anybody in the Big 12 can beat us,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. “It’s not exactly where we want it to be just yet. We feel like we didn’t play well, but we scored 94 points. There are things to clean up, but you get through this game and say, ‘Man, let’s take the win and let’s move on.'”
Dybantsa is fresh off the two highest-scoring games of his career, having posted 35 and 33 points on efficient shooting in comfortable wins against Abilene Christian (85-67 score) and Eastern Washington (109-81). He was a combined 20-for-25 shooting from the field in those games and posted his first career triple-double against Eastern Washington.
BYU coach Kevin Young said he thinks Dybantsa is only scratching the surface.
“I think where he can take it to another level is just figuring things out a little bit quicker,” Young said. “Figuring out how teams are going to play him earlier in games, continuing to make the reads … I think defensively he can continue to improve. But yeah, I think all of our guys can get better, and he’s no different.”
The Cougars know the Wildcats pose a threat, because despite their inconsistency, Kansas State still averages more points per outing (88.5) than the Cougars do (87.4).
This also will be BYU’s first true road game of the season, and the team hasn’t played since the Christmas break.
“The margin for error is now going to be a lot smaller than I think it has been,” Young said. “(Kansas State) is a high-powered offensive team. They got a really good scorer in Haggerty.”
-Field Level Media
