NEW YORK CITY – You could call it pride — poor play by Clemson to set up the largest second-half comeback in BYU history. You could call it luck — a three-point miracle after a night of subpar shooting. Or, you could call it what it was — an NBA-caliber performance from the best small forward in college basketball.
The first half of Tuesday night’s Jimmy V Classic ended with BYU on the receiving end of a 21-0 run by Clemson. The Cougars were brutalized on the boards, beat in the paint and shot just 9-of-32 from the field against a hounding Tigers defense. Their pieces were there – good looks, fast breaks, low turnovers – but the Cougars could not score. BYU was averaging 85 points per game headed into the match, but at the break, they had just 22 and trailed by 21.
Somehow, everything changed and BYU came away with a last-second victory: 67-64.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Second half, they flipped the script.”
In the first half, Clemson contained 6-foot-9 freshman forward AJ Dybantsa. Dybantsa was able to drive, but he was shooting unremarkably, looked frustrated against double teams and couldn’t get to the line.
“We did not want to foul him. That’s point number one,” Brownell said. “One of the big keys in the first half was they only shot three free throws.”
Two minutes into the second half, BYU 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Robert Wright III ended Clemson’s scoring run with a jumper. Thirty seconds later, Clemson fouled Dybantsa. Brownell looked panicked.
Dybantsa assisted Wright on a three, then launched a one-man, seven-point run. The Madison Square Garden crowd was filing in as the UConn-Florida nightcap approached, and by the 10-minute mark, they were chanting for BYU.
“He’s not phased by that,” Dybantsa’s father, Ace, told Hoops HQ. “Yes, it’s a big stage. The bigger the stage, the better he performs. I asked him a few years ago, ‘Don’t you feel the pressure? He goes, ‘Dad, what pressure? I’m just hooping.’”
With BYU trailing by 11 with 12:25 left, 6-foot-8 Cougars forward Keba Keita stole the ball and slammed in a dunk so explosive the game had to be stopped. As workers straightened the slanted backboard, BYU stood in a quiet huddle. Clemson still led by nine, 47-38, but it looked as if the Tigers were now playing to survive.
In the shuffle, they had dropped their double teaming of Dybantsa.
“We have a little saying, (AJ) and I: ‘Just pick a spot,’” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “That was something I learned in the NBA with coaches and really good players. Just pick a spot, and you’re either able to make it or miss it. He was able to pick his spots tonight and made them pay.”
Dybantsa scored the Cougars’ next seven points when play resumed to cut the deficit to 50-45. Then, with Clemson up just one, he entered into a flow state with four consecutive assists, including three lobs to Keita.
“They decided not to double me in the second half,” Dybantsa said, “so I picked my spot smarter. Not trying to fade as much, just trying to rise above the defense.”
With 26 seconds left, BYU led 64-59, their largest lead of the game. Dybantsa had 28 points, nine rebounds, six assists and had put together a highlight reel in the largest second-half comeback in Cougars history. All he had to do was close.
Then, in the next 21 seconds, Clemson 6-foot-3 senior guard Dillon Hunter hit a trey, grabbed a defensive rebound and scored on a layup to tie it. During a timeout with five seconds left, Young called a play BYU has practiced a thousand times. Clemson knew it, too.
“Their first option was to run a curl action for (Richie) Saunders around Dybantsa and go for a lob and try to throw to Dybantsa at the block,” Brownell said. “We took the inbounder’s man and played three-on-two there to cover it.”
Young knew he couldn’t beat Clemson’s defense and called a timeout as Wright crossed midcourt. Then came Dybantsa’s toughest play of the night: draw the double and let his teammates close the game.
Young subbed in 6-foot-10 senior forward Mihailo Bošković for the first time in the second half to inbound the ball. With 1.3 seconds left, he got it to Wright, who launched a deep three.
His form was perfect. The game was over the second the ball left his hands.
“AJ wasn’t open. He was getting double-teamed,” said Wright, who was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc while his teammates were a combined 2-of-18. “He just trusted me, and the shot went in.”
All told, Dybantsa’s second half was the strongest performance of any player this season. His Wooden Award stock should skyrocket, and you should keep an eye on his Cougars.
“I’m super-confident in my ability and I trust all the work I put in,” Dybantsa said. “(And) I guess I gave Rob a highlight.”
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