College Basketball: Previewing Saturday's BYU-Texas Tech Game

We're now a couple of weeks into conference play and, with that, some players are solidifying themselves at the top of the college basketball game while others are emerging as prospects to watch.

Today's slate of college basketball features numerous incredible matchups, including Kentucky-Tennessee, Florida-Vanderbilt, Michigan-Oregon, Arkansas-Georgia, Duke-Stanford, Saint Mary's-Santa Clara, and BYU-Texas Tech. Here's who to watch in today's matchup where BYU heads to Lubbock, Texas to face Texas Tech.

BYU Cougars

BYU is highlighted by none other than projected top-three pick AJ Dybantsa. The prolific freshman is averaging 23.1 points, 3.7 assists, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 73.9% at the rim (92 attempts), 51.6% on non-rim twos (95 attempts), 32% from three (50 attempts), and 75.9% from the free throw line (145 attempts). He's also recording a 5.4 offensive rebound percentage, 17.7 defensive rebound percentage, 2.5 steal percentage, and a 1.6 block percentage.

Dybantsa is one of the most talented players and gifted scorers in college basketball -- he's been unassisted on 69.2% of his made field goals this season while also assisting on an estimated 22.5% of his teammates' made field goals while on the floor.

The projected top-three pick is on pace to meet the Productive Young Athlete query this season, a threshold in which 65 of the 84 players (77%) who have met the same criteria have played five-plus years in the NBA or are currently in the league.

Richie Saunders is another player to highlight -- the 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior guard is averaging 19.3 points while shooting 39.7% from beyond the arc on 12.2 three point attempts per 100 possessions.

Other players to monitor for BYU include Xavion Staton, Keba Keita, and Rob Wright.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

This Red Raiders squad is led by an impressive duo of Christian Anderson and JT Toppin.

Christian Anderson

Anderson is a 6-foot-2, 165-pound sophomore who's averaging 19.7 points, 7.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 68.8% at the rim (48 attempts), 45.3% on non-rim twos (53 attempts), 43.1% from three (130 attempts), and 74.6% from the free throw line (71 attempts).

Anderson was impressive as a freshman -- below is a quote from a previous article I wrote on Anderson from August 2025 highlighting two under-the-radar prospects to watch heading into this season (the other player being Cameron Carr):

Anderson, a rising sophomore for the Red Raiders, is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound guard. He's a highly skilled player with legitimate craft to his game. Anderson is not concerningly undersized height-wise (6-foot-2 is not historically detrimental to the probability of sticking in the NBA), but he has a lean frame he needs to continue to build out. The potential 2026 draft pick can hit catch-and-shoot threes (39.7% on 126 catch-and-shoot attempts), is quick downhill out of the pick-and-roll, and is a solid pick-and-roll playmaker (84th percentile in Points Per Possession in Pick-and-Roll Plus Passes possessions on a sample size of 210 possessions).

Additionally, Anderson's ability to shoot off the dribble was noticeable last season and will be sure to serve him well against drop in the pick-and-roll or when self-creating. The rising sophomore converted 54.3% of his off the dribble twos (35 attempts) and 33.9% of his off the dribble threes (62 attempts). His general live-dribble passing and on-ball defense looked like it had room to grow, however.
Jordan Monaco

While Anderson popped on film last season, he's exceeding almost all expectations this season by becoming a true offensive engine for the No. 15 team in the country -- he's been unassisted on 70% of his made field goals so far this season while assisting an estimated 33.9% of his teammates' made field goals when on the floor this season.

Anderson is on pace to meet the Productive Sophomore Query, a threshold in which 32 of the 47 (68%) of the previous players who have met the criteria played five-plus years in the NBA or are currently in the league.

JT Toppin

The second half of the Texas Tech duo, Toppin has previously met both the Productive Young Athlete and the Productive Sophomore queries mentioned above. He's averaging 21.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game this season while recording a 14.9 offensive rebound percentage, 13.7 assist percentage, 1.9 steal percentage, and a 5.8 block percnetage.

Other players to monitor on Texas Tech include Luke Bamgboye and Josiah Moseley.