Provo • With 5:07 remaining in the game, BYU basketball coach Kevin Young opted to put AJ Dybantsa on the bench Saturday night.
BYU’s superstar had just hit a pair of free throws to trim No. 8 Houston’s lead to four points.
So why sit Dybantsa? One would think that Young would want the country’s No. 1 recruit on the floor in crunch time of a top-25 matchup.
“He was about to pass out,” Young said afterward.
“I think some of that rebounding was [adding to the] fatigue on his part. I knew the media [timeout] was getting ready to come, and so I thought we could steal another extra minute, or less than that, to be honest with you, because I was planning on calling a timeout and then just instead of him getting the full media getting an extra 30 seconds. That’s what went into that decision.”
Dybantsa finished with 28 points on 14 makes in the 77-66 loss to Houston.
But the forward, who played 35 minutes in the contest, didn’t necessarily agree with Young’s assessment.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU fans cheer for star player AJ Dybantsa during Saturday's game against No. 8 Houston.
“Nah, I was good,” Dybantsa said when asked if he was literally going to pass out Saturday night. “I probably think he thought I needed rest. He usually tries to take me out right before the media timeout, so I can get an extra minute. But, no, I was good.
“I don’t know why he said that.”
Young and Dybantsa might not be on the same page about the star’s fatigue during crunch time, but it speaks to a bigger issue that the Cougars are having: BYU can hardly afford to rest Dybantsa.
The Cougars had five points from their bench unit against Houston. Outside of Dybantsa, the rest of the Cougar roster went 12 of 39 from the field.
“We’re searching a little bit, obviously, off the bench,” Young said when asked about making any changes to the lineup. “You can make an argument to maybe then put one of the starters on the bench and put a bench guy in, so that you do have something a little bit more potent potentially coming off the bench.
“Everything is being examined.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) led the Cougars in scoring during the team's loss to No. 8 Houston Saturday night.
Young’s Cougars clearly have a depth problem.
And — if the Cougars want to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament — the answer might not be asking for more from the players around Dybantsa.
BYU might need to rely on its leading scorer even more.
“He was great tonight,” Young said. “When he’s rolling like that, you don’t want to take him off the floor.
“But I am going to challenge him a little bit about making sure he’s doing all the right things and taking care of his body. Is he eating the right things? Is he drinking enough liquids? Is he getting enough sleep? We need him out there as much as we possibly can have him out there.”