WACO, Texas (AP) — AJ Dybantsa scored 36 points, Robert Wright III added a career-high 30 while getting booed nearly every time he touched the ball and No. 22 BYU ended a four-game losing streak with a 99-94 victory over Baylor on Tuesday night.
Wright backed out on an agreement to return to the Bears after spending his freshman season with them, and the Foster Pavilion fans let him know how they felt. Loud boos rang out during his pregame introduction, and Baylor students chanted “traitor” several times during the game.
BYU (18-6, 6-5 Big 12) rallied from an early 12-point deficit, led by Dybantsa and Wright but with some key plays from Richie Saunders as the Cougars avoided matching their longest skid since losing the final five games of the 2004-05 season.
Freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou scored a season-high 37 points and Cameron Carr added 24 for the Bears (13-11, 3-9), who trimmed a 17-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining to four but still dropped to 1-5 at home in Big 12 play.
Dybantsa was 14 of 20 from the field and had seven assists in the fifth 30-point game of a freshman season that figures to lead to a top-five pick in this summer’s NBA draft.
Saunders, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, gave BYU the lead for good early in the second half when he took the ball away from Carr and made a layup at the other end.
The Bears were shooting 71% from the field after a 3-pointer from Carr gave them their biggest lead at 33-21, but Baylor made just two of its last 12 shots before halftime, and the teams went into the break tied 41-all.
Up next
BYU: Colorado at home Saturday.
Baylor: A neutral-site meeting with No. 24 Louisville in Fort Worth on Saturday.
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