About this episode
The quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City officially separated the contenders from the pretenders, but the story of the week—and perhaps the decade—remains the historic brilliance of AJ Dybantsa. Despite BYU’s eventual exit last night, the freshman phenom has etched his name into the conference's bedrock.
The Dybantsa Blitzkrieg
AJ Dybantsa finished his three-day stay at the T-Mobile Center by doing something no one has done since 2007: he surpassed Kevin Durant for the most points scored in a single Big 12 Tournament. In BYU’s 73–66 loss to No. 2 seed Houston, Dybantsa poured in 26 points, bringing his tournament total to a staggering 93 points.
Dybantsa was the engine for a BYU squad that led by four at halftime, but Kelvin Sampson’s defense finally tightened the screws in the second half. While Dybantsa struggled with efficiency late—shooting 7-of-18 from the floor under a relentless Houston double-team—his overall performance was a masterclass in scoring. As coach Kevin Young noted post-game, Dybantsa has "the bucket gene," and he leaves Kansas City as the undisputed favorite for the No. 1 overall pick in June.
The Final Four is Set
While Dybantsa grabbed the headlines, the conference giants asserted their dominance to set up a heavyweight semifinal Friday:
Houston survived the Dybantsa onslaught thanks to 17 points from Kingston Flemings and a stifling second-half defense that held BYU to just 25 points after the break.
Kansas outlasted TCU 78–73 behind Darryn Peterson’s 24 points, setting up a clash with Houston tonight.
Iowa State continued its destruction of the field, following up their 49-point win over ASU by routing Texas Tech 75–53.
Arizona looked every bit the No. 1 seed, dismantling UCF 81–59.
The bracket has held firm at the top. Tonight, the "Super-Semis" begin as the league's top four seeds battle for a spot in Saturday's championship.Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub
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