AJ Dybantsa gave No. 8 Houston everything he had. It just wasn’t enough.
Dybantsa finished with 28 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and BYU briefly took the lead midway through the second half. But Kingston Flemings scored 11 of his 19 points after the break to fuel a decisive run that put the Cougars ahead for good, and No. 8 Houston walked out of the Marriott Center with a 77–66 road victory on Saturday night. Chris Cenac Jr. added 16 points, Emanuel Sharp contributed 14, and the Cougars improved to 21–2 overall and 9–1 in the Big 12 — staying within a game of No. 1 Arizona in the conference standings.
It was the kind of win that proves something. On the road, against a ranked opponent, in a hostile building. Houston found a way.
Houston Built the Lead, BYU Took It Back
The Cougars wasted no time asserting themselves. Houston scored the game’s first four points on second-chance opportunities, and back-to-back threes pushed the lead to 10–2 before the first media timeout. BYU answered with a Dybantsa pull-up and a Wright III three to cut it to 12–9, but Houston responded with a 7–2 spurt. The teams traded threes — Wright III and Richie Saunders connecting for BYU — before Houston went on a 9–0 run to push the lead to 28–18 with 5:55 left in the first half.
BYU chipped away and kept the deficit manageable heading into the break. In the second half, Wright III drove for a layup to give BYU its first lead since early in the game — 48–46 with 14:02 remaining — and the Marriott Center was as loud as it had been all night. The teams then traded baskets until Houston knotted the score at 52 heading into a media timeout with 11:39 left.
The Decisive Run
Out of the break, Houston didn’t look back. The Cougars pushed the margin to 59–54 with 8:38 remaining on a second-chance basket and a foul. BYU trimmed it to 63–58 with 5:07 left as Dybantsa converted a pair of free throws — then hit a pull-up three to close within five. But Flemings and company responded by scoring on four straight possessions, rebuilding the cushion to double digits and never letting BYU back in.
Houston shot 47.5% from the field on the night and closed the game at the free-throw line to secure the road victory. The Cougars’ second-half composure — grinding out stops and converting second-chance opportunities when the game was tightest — was the difference.
Dybantsa Was Brilliant, But BYU Left Points Behind
None of this diminishes what Dybantsa did. The freshman phenom finished with 28 points, five rebounds, and four assists, and he dragged BYU back into the game on multiple occasions with sheer individual brilliance. Robert Wright III was outstanding alongside him with 17 points on a perfect 3-of-3 night from three. Keba Keita anchored the interior defensively with three blocks, his seventh multi-block game of the season.
But the free-throw line was BYU’s undoing. The Cougars drew fouls consistently, and the Cougars in blue went just 16-of-28 from the stripe — leaving 12 points on the table in a game decided by 11. BYU also shot 39.6% from the field and 36.4% from three, numbers that aren’t going to beat a team of Houston’s caliber on any night.
“We can’t seem to finish the job, and that’s disappointing,” said BYU coach Kevin Young. “I did think they responded, which for me was going to be an ‘I’m going to learn a lot about our group’ type of game.”
What It Means
Four wins in a row. Four games out of first with a manageable schedule ahead. Houston is playing with the confidence of a program that has been here before and knows exactly how to close out road games in hostile environments. Cenac, Sharp, Flemings — all of them delivered when it mattered on Saturday night.
The Cougars return home Tuesday to host Utah at Fertitta Center. The Big 12 race with Arizona is very much alive.
