Six-foot-nine, seven-foot wingspan, can dribble, pass, score and has all the tools to be an elite defender.
Against Abilene Christian on Friday night at the Marriott Center, BYU needed all of those skills from freshman AJ Dybantsa to come out with an 85-67 victory over the Wildcats.
Unlike the other non-Power Four games on BYU's non-conference schedule, Abilene Christian gave the Cougars quite the scare. BYU trailed for over 11 minutes in the first half and the Wildcats even cut the lead to two in the second.
Usual starting center Keba Keita was out with an illness, leaving Khadim Mboup to make his first collegiate start. The loss of Keita was felt by the Cougars.
"It's clear that [Keita's] impact on the game is everywhere," BYU veteran Richie Saunders said. "You can't replace Keita."
Maybe it was the surprisingly close aspect of the game that dialed up Dybantsa's intensity.
Trailing by six in the first, the Cougars and Dybantsa decided to full court press.
Dybantsa's on-ball defense was put to the test, and he passed with flying colors. After hounding the Wildcat ball-handler, he picked him clean and then drew a foul immediately after.
On the following possession, he forced an errant pass out of bounds for a turnover.
BYU used this spark to close out the half on a 32-19 run.
"It's tough with AJ and [Kennard Davis] up there," BYU coach Kevin Young said about its full court press. "Its a lot of length and a lot of athleticism up there."
But while Young will likely will remember his defensive effort more than most — all coaches do — the country will remember his instantly iconic one-handed outback slam.
After a Rob Wright missed 3-pointer clanked off the rim, Dybantsa jumped over an unassuming Cbo Newton, grabbed the ball with his right hand and slammed it in.
"I've seen a lot of plays in my life, but I did react to that one. That was insane," Young said. "I can't wait to watch that on film."
AJ DYBANTSA DUNK OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9hEhKLHVgU
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) December 20, 2025
The dunk instantly went viral on all platforms, and even got a sweet reaction from BYU football coach Kalani Sitake, who was in attendance at the Marriott Center on Friday night.
"That was probably the best outback I've had," Dybantsa said.
BYU was able to pull away for a comfortable win at the end, but had it not been for Dybantsa's intensity throughout the game, the Cougars easily could have been on the wrong end of an upset.
His athleticism and efficiency was levels above that of Abeline Christian's roster. He went to the free throw line 20 times and made 17 of them. On only 12 field goal attempts he scored a career-high 35 points.
Dybantsa also finished with six rebounds, four assists, two steals and an impressive block of a 3-point shot.
BYU improved to 11-1 with the win. Its last non-conference game will be on Monday against Eastern Washington.