Richie Saunders is Still Supporting His Team Despite Season-Ending Injury

24 hours after suffering a season-ending injury that ended his BYU career, veteran Richie Saunders reached out to head coach Kevin Young to ask what he could to do help the team.

After BYU's win over Iowa State, Young told BYUtv's Spencer Linton that Saunders is still involved with the team.

"Richie's a BYU guy," Young said. "He bleeds blue and you know he texted me less than 24 hours after his injury and said, what can I do to still help the team? That's just the type of guy he is and, you know, cool seeing him over there, cool seeing him in the locker room, and obviously we we wish we had him out there, but he understands that we we gotta play without him and he can still help us in any way he can."

Richie Saunders is still giving his all to BYU Basketball pic.twitter.com/OxskqGjuD7
— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) February 22, 2026

AJ Dybantsa Puts Together 'Most Complete Game'

Against one of the nation's best defenses in Iowa State, Dybantsa put up 29 points while playing all 40 minutes. He also had 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Dybantsa intiated BYU's offense for the majority of the game in the 79-69 win. 79 points was the fourth most points Iowa State had surrendered all season.

After the game, BYU coach Kevin Young called Dybantsa's performance his "most complete game of the season".

"It was unbelievable," Young said on Dybantsa's defensive effort. "AJ can do whatever he wants on a basketball court. Whatever he puts his mind to, he can do. That's their leading scorer and he held him to 1/5. Let's just put it into perspective. AJ played 40 minutes, didn't come out. He had 29 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 turnovers against a team that turns over everybody more than anyone in the country. And he held their best player to 1/5. The guy is an absolute stud, and I think he's showing people night in and night out how reliable he is. What I liked about tonight is that he did it on both ends of the floor - [that's] something I've challenged him with since I met the young man. Really proud of his complete game. I thought it was his most complete game of the season."

From the opening tip, Dybansta was responsible for guarding Iowa State leading scorer Milan Momcilovic. Momcilovic came into the game averaging just under 18 points per game. On the first possession of the game, Momcilovic isolated Dyanbtsa in the post. Momcilovic attempted a fadeaway jumper and Dybantsa blocked Momcilovic's shot.

BYU got the ball back and, just seconds after blocking Momvcilovic, Dybantsa threw a lob to BYU big man Keba Keita. That sequence set the tone for the game.