After back-to-back games last month in which AJ Dybantsa shot below 38% from the field, the five-star freshman has mostly been cooking. In BYU’s past five contests, all of them wins, Dybantsa is averaging 23.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 60% from the field.
Consider, for some context, that Duke’s Cameron Boozer is averaging fewer points, fewer assists and shooting a lower percentage from the field on the season than Dybantsa’s numbers over those past five contests — and Boozer is the clear leader in the CBS Sports National Player of the Year race.
Simply put, Dybantsa has been great over the past three weeks. And, if the season ended today, in my mind, he’d be a First Team All-American as the leading scorer and rebounder on a team that’s 10-1 and No. 6 in Friday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the 10th consecutive day.
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David Cobb
Next up for BYU is Friday’s game with Abilene Christian that’ll tip at 9:30 p.m. ET on TNT. If you watch, in addition to Dybantsa, keep an eye on Richie Saunders, who is having the best season of his four-year college career. The 6-5 guard is averaging a career-high 18.1 points and a career-high 5.4 rebounds while shooting 50.8% from the field and 41.2% from 3-point range. Last time out, Saunders got 24 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists in a 93-57 win over Pacific that extended BYU’s winning streak to seven games.
The Cougars’ lone defeat is a 86-84 loss to UConn.
UConn is No. 5 in the Top 25 And 1.
