BOSTON – The 20-point lead UConn boasted five minutes into the second half meant nothing when BYU’s star freshman A.J. Dybantsa nailed a straight-on 3-pointer to make it a three point game with 30 seconds to play in a top-10 thriller at TD Garden Saturday night.
Managing to stay composed, Huskies’ point guard Silas Demary Jr. took the reigns and made his pair of free throws. But then BYU’s Dawson Baker heaved another tough triple from the top of the key to make it a two-point difference with 20 seconds left. After Malachi Smith split his free throws, BYU point guard Robert Wright III took the ball down the court with urgency and looked for a hand-off to Dybantsa, but Demary wasn’t going to let that happen.
“I’m like, for game, they’ve got to go to him. That’s their go-to guy, he’s hot, so I just blew that up,” said Demary, who was named MVP for his 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds and handful of winning plays down the stretch.
Wright lost the ball, Demary picked it up and tossed it over to Solo Ball, who effectively won the game, 86-84, from the foul line.
The Cougars’ comeback, a slow-building, 41-24 run, started when Dybantsa, who was guarded well and shot only 1-for-6 from the field in the first half, saw his first 3-pointer fall with 13 minutes remaining. Almost every time he touched the ball after that shot, he’d either get fouled in isolation and sent to the free throw line, or he’d pull back for a mid-range shot with a high-level of difficulty.
Either way, the ball was going through the net.
UConn’s offense, which was humming to build the lead it did, fell flat as players were managing foul trouble on top of the difficulties that come with BYU’s length and its different looks and pressures on defense. But Demary was constant, aggressive, and guided the way down the stretch like the point guard UConn needed when it found him in the transfer portal.
“When the game tightens up, it’s about players going and making plays off-script and making a big shot. It’s not always execution, especially at the end of the game,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “(Demary) obviously showed that he’s clutch and he’s able to get to the free throw line, he’s able to put pressure on the rim, get in the paint, finish.. The guy is gonna keep getting better and better, and we need that from him.”
Both Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr., who thrived on the Boston Celtics’ home parquet, joined Demary with 21 points. Karaban made 8 of his 11 shots from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Reed was a force inside – before and after the Cougars lost their starting center, Keba Keita, to injury with nine minutes left in the first half – adding eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks, but still has more to give.
“He did play up to his level today, with 21 and eight,” Hurley said. “He could have been better, we missed him a few times, he posted up off the block when he had a physical advantage, when he should’ve been ducking in deep and just turning and scoring… But the ceiling is real high for Tarris. Tarris has a chance to be one of the best centers in the country the whole year and he is still working his way back from the hamstring, so he’s just gonna keep getting better and better.”
Jayden Ross, who drew the Dybantsa matchup when he came in off the bench, added 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting, finishing a team-best plus-nine before he fouled out with four minutes left.
Dybantsa was guarded well early on, with Ross and Jaylin Stewart taking most of the assignments and playing a large part in holding him to 1-for-6 shooting in the first half. But, with a large number of family and friends in attendance, the native of Brockton, Mass. took over and put on a show in the dual-homecoming he shared with Karaban (Southborough, Mass.).
Dybantsa scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and finished with six rebounds and two steals. Senior guard Richie Saunders added 17 points for the Cougars and Wright had 16.
The crowd, which included a star-studded cast of characters like UConn and Boston Celtics legend Ray Allen, as well as current Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, revealed its rooting interests in the pregame introductions.
The ovation for Karaban was only louder after his first 3-pointer fell, from well beyond NBA distance, during a 13-2 run that gave the Huskies a 15-point lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
BYU started the game 0-for-10 from beyond the arc and trailed by double-figures for about eight minutes until Baker got the first 3-pointer to fall with about a minute left before halftime. Karaban answered, but the Cougars made another triple from the corner just before going into the half with UConn leading, 43-32.
For every bit of BYU momentum, it seemed the Huskies had an answer. First it was Karaban (again), then Ross, who scored eight points in his first seven minutes of action.
A tough layup through contact from Demary extended the lead to 20 points with 15 minutes to go.
“I thought we looked like an awesome team for 25 minutes,” Hurley said. “Obviously the last 15 minutes, we just kind of hung on and weren’t very good against pressure and then lost some integrity on the ball. And foul trouble obviously hurt, but credit BYU and those guys, they showed some real fight today. They could’ve walked out of here and lost by 20 easily. But those guys dug their heels in.”
UConn turned the ball over nine times in the second half, 16 for the game. The Huskies were called for 21 team fouls: four a piece from Stewart and Ball, who wasn’t at his best offensively, and five from Ross.
“I wouldn’t say there was a worry, we just had to stay composed and just stay together and battle through the adversity,” Karaban said. “This adversity is gonna help us out later in the season, but it was a good learning experience.”
UConn (4-0) returns to Gampel Pavilion for another top-10 matchup against No. 5 Arizona – which has its own stud freshman forward in Koa Peat – on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
