Oklahoma State picked up a much-needed big win by upsetting No. 16 BYU 99-92 on Wednesday night, despite 36 points from Cougars freshman AJ Dybantsa. The win marks the first Quad 1 victory for the Cowboys (16-6, 4-5 Big 12), who travel to No. 1 Arizona on Saturday.
The outcome led to a storming of the court at Gallagher-Iba Arena as the Cowboys pulled off a victory that could prove monumental on Selection Sunday.
Oklahoma State led by as many as 15 in the first half before Dybantsa sparked a furious rally to send the teams into halftime tied at 41. BYU kept the surge going in the second half, building a five-point lead in the opening minutes before the Cowboys finally got back on their feet.
Anthony Roy led the charge for Oklahoma State with 30 points, as the senior guard built on a 26-point performance after Saturday’s win at Utah with another big performance. The Green Bay transfer sparked a 10-3 run late in the second half as Oklahoma State kept the Cougars at arm’s length.
Dybantsa finished 13 of 20 points for BYU (17-5, 5-4), but his fourth game of the season with 30-plus points couldn’t save the Cougars from their fourth loss in five games. BYU committed 16 turnovers, which was the most since Jan. 7. Oklahoma State capitalized on turnovers with a 21-8 points advantage.
Implications for the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma State entered the day as one of the “First Four Out” in the CBS Sports Bracketology model. Early forecasts suggest the Cowboys will move to No. 11 in the next updated series after recording their best win yet. While it is technically the Cowboys’ first Quad 1 win, it is not their first victory over a projected NCAA Tournament team. Oklahoma State also has wins against Texas A&M and UCF, both of which are on track for at-large bids to the Big Dance. There is a good chance that Oklahoma State will rise into the top 40 nationally in the important Wins Above Bubble (WAB) metric as a result of the win over BYU.
Implications for BYU
BYU, projected to remain No. 4 in CBS Sports Bracketology, is working through a tough stretch of the schedule after a soft opening to its Big 12 slate and has now dropped four of its past five games. Although BYU is 4-5 in Quad 1 and has no losses outside of Quad 1, it has yet to have a true major win. Beating No. 8 Houston on Saturday would change that, but BYU will have to get out of its recent funk to make that happen, especially on defense. BYU’s last three opponents have each shot better than 50% from the floor.
#Oklahoma #State #upsets #BYU #survives #Dybantsas #huge #play #raise #NCAA #profile