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Game Information
Location: The Mecca of the Sports Universe, Madison Square Garden
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2025
Tip Time: 6:30
Channel: ESPN
2025-2026 Season
Record: 7-1
AP Rank: 9
Previous 3 Games
12/3: W – 91-60 vs California Baptist
11/26: W – 83 – 79 vs Dayton
11/24: W – 72 – 62 vs Miami (FL)
Key Analytics
(Per KenPom – National Rank in ())
Offense
Adjusted Efficiency: 125.6 (5)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.6 (143)
Average Possession Length: 15.3 (26)
Effective Field Goal%: 56.8 (36)
Offensive Rebound%: 31.2 (173)
Three Point%: 36.9 (57)
Two Point %: 57.7 (48)
Defense
Adjusted Efficiency: 96.6 (19)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.6 (143)
Average Possession Length: 18.1 (312)
Effective Field Goal%: 47 (57)
Offensive Rebound%: 27.7 (82)
Three Point%: 31.6 (115)
Two Point %: 46.8 (57)
B.Y.U. Personnel
Starters
Bench
Scouting Report
It’s reported/alleged that B.Y.U. dropped 10 million dollars on this roster. Clearly, Jerry Tarkanian was born well before his intended time because I can only imagine what sort of fun Tark would have with a cool 10 million dollars in Las Vegas. While I’d love to talk about a hypothetical UNLV team coached by hologram Tark, I need to focus on the real Cougar team facing the Tigers tomorrow night.
AJ Dybantsa should be the top overall pick in a loaded 2026 NBA draft. Rob Wright was on the All-Big 12 freshman team at Baylor last season. Ritchie Saunders was first-team All-Big 12 last season. Their bench is packed with experienced international players. If this game comes down to overall talent, Clemson might lose twice. If the Tigers want to win, they have to make tomorrow night about …
G.R.I.T.
Clemson can’t go toe-to-toe with the Cougars and see who can score the most points, or, I suppose, they could, but it wouldn’t go well. Whichever unfortunate souls on the Clemson roster end up guarding AJ Dybantsa will have a story to tell at holiday gatherings for the rest of their lives. Uncle Jake’s tale of getting dunked on by the top pick in the NBA draft will still be doing numbers at the 2045 Whalin family reunion. That’s no slight to Jake Whalin, who I assume will get the opening assignment on Dybantsa. He’s probably in the top 1% of athletes in the entire world. No one 6’10, 210 should be able to move like him. The Greeks would write epic poems about stature in prowess if he lived during antiquity, but AJ is in the top .0o1% and he’s got the skill to go along with it. He gets where he wants to go, gets on the court when he wants to, and the only thing you can hope to do is make him work for it.
The problem with B.Y.U. is that double-teaming Dybantsa and trying to take the ball out of his hands means Rob Wright III and Richie Saunders get to play against a defense in constant rotation, and that’s death as well. Wright and Saunders are both shooting 42% from deep this season, and AJ is a willing passer. What Connecticut managed to do against the Cougars was limit the damage to Wright, Dybantsa, and Saunders, but make sure it all came individually. The above trio shot a combined 17/24 from two, 4/16 from three, and 12-16 from the line. They also combined for five assists and 10 turnovers in the 86-84 loss.
The one thing I see when watching the Cougars play that Clemson could take advantage of is the tendency of Wright III, Dybantsa, and Saunders to alternate possessions as the main scoring option rather than play team basketball. Sometimes it feels like they’re looking to get their own shots up instead of getting the best possible shot up on any given possession. It feels counterintuitive, but Clemson needs to bait B.Y.U. into playing the game they deep down, in their heart of hearts, want to play, instead of the more team-oriented brand of basketball preferred by Kevin Young. The Tigers need the best three players for BYU to shoot contested shots off the dribble instead of getting open 3’s and dunks off assists. That means playing them straight up on defense, not over-helping, and accepting the fact that they’re going to hit some shots. Keeping the level of difficulty of those shots as high as possible will be the key for Clemson.
On offense, the Tigers are going to have to score. I was impressed with their 84 points against Alabama. It was seven short of the number they needed, but the Crimson Tide didn’t bury them with their offense, despite Clemson only shooting 4-19 from three. They were able to keep pace despite their poor shooting because they beat up Bama on the glass, grabbing 18 offensive boards in a total team rebounding effort, and they hit 22 of 28 attempts from the foul line. They also played a clean game, only turning the ball over seven times. That will be important tomorrow night because Dybantsa is a t.r.o.u.b.l.e. in the open court. If he gets a full head of steam, the best thing for a defender to do is get out of the way and avoid the and-1. This needs to be a slow, choppy, nasty game played a half-court at a time for the Tigers to have a shot in this one.
Overall
The sum of Clemson’s parts has to outweigh the individual greatness of BYU’s players if Brad Brownell’s team wants to pull off the upset in MSG. When it comes down to it, I’d rather have the better players, but that’s not an option. A total team effort is the only way forward tomorrow night, but it still might not be enough to get the job done.
Prediction
KemPom
Clemson – 74
BYU – 79
Drew
Clemson – 84
BYU – 92
I usually don’t stray this far away from KenPom’s point total, but I think Clemson is going to score some points in the garden tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I think BYU is going to score a few more. Foul trouble plays a role late. The Tigers give another game effort, but don’t have quite enough to get over the hump.
