BYU got off to a quick start and never trailed in a 100-53 win over UC Riverside Saturday night in Provo. AJ Dybantsa stuffed the stat sheet and showed his all-around talent with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 steals.
BYU’s bench also gave its best performance of the season with a season-high 36 points. Freshman Andrej Kostic gave some much need shooting with 15 points on 5 made threes, and fellow freshman Khadim Mboup had a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Richie
Saunders rounded out the double-figure scorers with 19 points. BYU as a team shot 59% from the floor and 9-19 (47%) from three and help UC Riverside to 35% shooting. BYU also won the turnover battle 18-9.
This was the first game of a four-game homestand for BYU to end non-conference play. UC Riverside on paper is the weakest of the four teams, but all four should be comfortable wins for BYU. One thing I wanted to see was bench guys get their confidence in this stretch, and seeing Andrej Kostic hit five threes is a potentially big development for BYU if he can consistently knock down shots.
BYU moves to 9-1 with the win and next hosts Pacific Tuesday night in the Marriott Center.
