What BYU’s Shocking Exhibition Defeat to Nebraska Reveals About Their Season Ahead

BYU tipped off their preseason exhibition Saturday night in Lincoln with a nail-biter that ended just one point shy—a 90-89 loss to Nebraska. Now, I know that might raise some eyebrows, but hang tight before you hit the panic button. This wasn’t your typical win-or-go-home matchup; Coach Kevin Young played it like a real tinkerer in the backfield, mixing rotations and giving the bench plenty of run time after halftime. Starting point guard Rob Wright III sat out the second half, while some bench guys actually logged more minutes than a couple of starters. When crunch time arrived, instead of leaning on his usual suspects, Young stuck with reserves, making it clear this game was more about arming for the regular season than filling the W column. So, whether you caught every buzzer-beater or just skimmed the highlights, don’t let this close loss rattle your expectations for the season ahead. LEARN MORE

BYU’s first exhibition of the preseason is in the books, with the Cougars falling 90-89 Saturday to Nebraska in Lincoln.

But there’s no need for fans to panic.

Yes, BYU lost by a single point and missed two potential go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds, but it was an exhibition — and Kevin Young coached it as such.

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Young spent most of the second half shaking up his rotations to test out different lineups, with starting point guard Rob Wright III not playing after halftime and four bench players all playing more second-half minutes than another starter in Keba Keita.

When the Cougars had the chance for a game-winner with 10 seconds remaining, Young didn’t put AJ Dybantsa, Richie Saunders or any of his starting five back on the floor, electing to keep five reserves out there instead.

Clearly winning the game wasn’t Saturday’s top priority — it was warming up for the regular season and seeing as much as possible from every available player on the roster.

Once again, fans shouldn’t lose any sleep over BYU losing this exhibition. Saturday’s result won’t affect the expectations or ceiling for the Cougars.

3 takeaways

The AJ Dybantsa show is underway. Dybantsa dazzled in his first opportunity to face college competition, absolutely looking the part of a potential No. 1 NBA draft selection.

The freshman phenom scored 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding seven rebounds, three assists and two made 3-pointers while going a perfect 8 for 8 from the free-throw line.

Defensively, Dybantsa was impressive as well, swiping three steals and picking up a block as BYU’s best player on that side of the ball.

There were 12 NBA scouts in attendance for Saturday’s exhibition, and they surely had to have liked what they saw from Dybantsa.

BYU struggled defensively. When the Cougars ultimately fell in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 earlier this year, it came as they allowed Alabama to explode for a historic 3-point shooting effort.

At times on Saturday, BYU made Nebraska look a bit Crimson Tide-ish.

The Cornhuskers sank 16 3-pointers at a 47.1% clip, dishing out 24 team assists on 32 made shots.

Big man Rienk Mast, making his return after missing all of last season, seemingly couldn’t miss, dropping 31 points and going 7 for 8 from behind the arc.

Additionally, Nebraska guard Connor Essegian posted 20 points with five 3-pointers.

BYU’s fatal flaw last season was its perimeter defense, and the Cougars will need to tighten up in that area before the regular season begins. They allowed far too many wide-open looks in Lincoln.

Khadim Mboup and Aleksej Kostic are intriguing bench pieces. Perhaps the two players on BYU’s roster fans were least familiar with going into Saturday were Mboup and Kostic, but they wasted no time in introducing themselves to Cougar Nation against Nebraska.

Mboup, who joined the program in the middle of last season and redshirted, provided 12 points and 11 rebounds in the frontcourt, finishing the game with a team-high plus/minus mark of +11.

Kostic, the Austrian guard who signed with the Cougars in July, scored 11 points and hit three 3-pointers.

BYU was one of the deepest teams in the country a year ago and should possess similarly effective depth again this season — and Mboup and Kostic could each be a key part of that.