On Thursday, March 19, Kevin Young’s 2025-26 BYU Cougars faced off against coach Sean Miller’s Texas Longhorns in the first round of the 2026 NCAA tournament.
The two powerhouse programs locked horns in neutral territory, the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, for the right to advance to the second round of the West Region of the national postseason.
BYU vs Texas Box Score
BYU
| Player | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF |
| A. Dybantsa | 35 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| K. Keita | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| K. Davis Jr. | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| A. Kosti | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| R. Wright III | 14 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| D. Diomande | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Mboup | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| M. Boskovic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| A. Ahmed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Texas
| Player | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF |
| C. Heide | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| M. Vokietatis | 23 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Pope | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| D. Swain | 14 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| T. Mark | 19 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| N. Codie | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| C. Weaver | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| S. Wilcher | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
BYU vs Texas Game Summary
Sean Miller‘s squad jumped off to a quick 5-0 edge in just less than a minute. BYU star AJ Dybantsa immediately retaliated with a jump shot of his own, but was swiftly responded back by a Texas 3-pointer on the other end. Both teams continued to go back-and-forth, with the Longhorns holding on to their early lead. Despite the efforts shown by BYU to keep the game close, they still trailed, 27-21.
After the first period reach its halfway point, coach Kevin Young‘s team knew that they couldn’t let their deficit balloon. With this, Dybantsa took control of the scoring load for the Cougars, which was helped out by his teammates’ playmaking and defense. BYU eventually got within three points, 32-29, off of Dybantsa’s points. But, it seems as though Texas had an answer for every Cougars haymaker as they were still up by nine, 46-37, by halftime.
To open the second half, the Cougars cut their deficit by as much as four points, 48-44, at the 17:40 mark through a layup by sophomore Robert Wright III. With the momentum seemingly shifting to BYU, the Longhorns responded back maintaining their lead little by little. Texas’ timely baskets eventually extended their lead further, as the Cougars could not keep up, with them holding a 13-point advantage, 68-55, with 10 minutes to go.
At this point in the game, Dybantsa has carried the scoring load for the Cougars, so the rest of coach Young’s squad knew that they had to match it if they had any chance of winning over Texas. With this, the Cougars managed to get within striking distance once again by being down by just six points consistently, and then just four with a minute left. But, BYU could not capitalize on this as Texas held on to their lead to win by eight points, 79-71, despite a 35-point outing from Dybantsa.
