AJ Dybantsa didn’t know much, if anything at all, about the rivalry between BYU and Utah growing up in Brockton, Massachusetts. The five-star freshman likely only felt the rivalry on an intellectual level when he finished his high school career at Utah Prep in Hurricane.

BYU's returning players, most notably senior Richie Saunders, have not forgotten last year's 1-point overtime loss to rival Utah at the Huntsman Center.

Richie Saunders scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 9 BYU outlasted Utah 89-84. Robert Wright III had 23 points and AJ Dybantsa added 20 for BYU.

BYU star Richie Saunders had done a lot during his collegiate career. But he had never beaten the rival Utes in Salt Lake City. That changed on Saturday night.

While chaos has blanketed college football in the state and more than 30% of college players are in the transfer portal, BYU coach Kalani Sitake’s regime has, well, kind of escaped. As of Friday afternoon, not one starter from the 2025 team has left for the transfer portal.

It wasn’t the blowout a lot of people were expecting, but in the end, the #9 BYU basketball team had enough to hold off upset-minded Utah Saturday night

Delaney Gibb followed up her season-high 21-point effort at Arizona with 19 points, four assists and three steals as BYU led throughout a 79-64 win over Houston.

Game summary of the BYU Cougars vs. Utah Utes NCAAM game, final score 89-84, from January 10, 2026 on ESPN.