By ADAM ZAGORIA
Ever since it was announced last May that AJ Dybantsa and BYU would travel to Boston to play UConn at TD Garden, basketball fans have had the game circled on their calendars.
Now that the game between No. 3 UConn and No. 7 BYU is almost here, Dybantsa, a Brockton, Mass. native, can’t wait to return home to face Dan Hurley’s crew. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night (FOX).
“That should be fun, definitely seeing a lot of familiar faces,” Dybantsa told BYUtv Sports Nation after putting up 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in an 85-68 win over Delaware after the Cougars trailed by three at the half. “But it’s a Top-3 team as they should be. UConn’s good, they’ve been good. I think they’ve won the last two out of the four national championships, so it’s going to be a test for us but we’re be ready.”
UConn has actually won two of the last three, winning back-to-back national titles in 2023 and ’24.
“Their physicality. They’re bigger, they’re stronger,” Dybantsa said, per Dave Borges. “I’m a freshman coming in, they have a lot of returning guys that have won championships and have been on winning teams. I think them being more experienced than me, and probably some of my teammates, is going to be very challenging. But I think we’re ready for that challenge.”
AJ Dybantsa on going back to his hometown to play Uconn pic.twitter.com/N5Qfc31tVO
— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) November 12, 2025
Dybantsa, who got a $7 mlllion NIL package at BYU, is part of a loaded freshmen class that has made noise this season already and includes Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cam Boozer, Tennessee’s Nate Ament and Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. He is averaging 18.7 points and 7.2 rebounds for the unbeaten Cougars (3-0).
UConn and BYU have squared off on the hardwood only once before. That meeting came in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament, when fifth-seeded Connecticut tipped 12-seed BYU by a score of 58-53. The Huskies were led by 20 points and eight rebounds from Emeka Okafor, while the Cougars got a game-high 21 points from Travis Hansen.
The return to the TD Garden for the Huskies will be their first appearance in Boston since the 2024 East Regional. UConn blew past San Diego State, 82-52, in the Sweet 16 then knocked off Illinois by a score of 77-52 in the Elite Eight in a win that included the historic 30-0 run. The Huskies last played a regular season game at the TD Garden on Dec. 1, 2007 against Gonzaga in The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase.
The Huskies are coming off an 89-62 rout of Columbia on Monday in which Solo Ball went for 23 points, Alex Karaban 20 and Tarris Reed Jr. 19.
This will be the first of five straight games against ranked opponents for UConn, which is bidding to win its third national championship in four years.
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