Boston Celtics
“That’s as high a level of shot-making as you’re going to see in college basketball.”
Saturday might have been an anticipated return to the Commonwealth for Brockton native AJ Dybantsa.
But the BYU star and projected best-three pick in the 2026 NBA Draft didn’t exactly receive the warmest welcome on the parquet floor at TD Garden.
The Massachusetts product might have had plenty of family and friends at TD Garden for the 18-year-old forward’s first game back on Causeway Street since his days playing for St. Sebastian’s.
But in a game against the No. 3-ranked UConn Huskies, Dybantsa and the No. 7 BYU Cougars were entering into enemy territory — with a majority of the Garden crowd donning Huskies gear.
“Just coming in as a freshman — it’s like a new environment,” Dybantsa said. “I mean, I’ve played in NBA arenas before, but I haven’t played in one feeling like this. And obviously they brought a lot of fans and everything like that. So I just had to stay calm, stay poised.”
Be it a hostile crowd, initial jitters in his return to Massachusetts, or a daunting matchup against an imposing UConn roster, Dybantsa labored out of the gate in Saturday’s heavyweight bout in the Hall of Fame series.
But not for long.
After posting four points in the first half, Dybantsa helped turn a potential blowout for the Cougars into a nailbiter — finishing with 21 points over the final 20 minutes of play en route to an eventual 86-84 Huskies win.
“That’s as high a level of shot-making as you’re going to see in college basketball,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said of Dybantsa, who closed the game with a game-high 25 points, six rebounds, and two steals. “I mean, that guy with the threes — he hasn’t been making threes at least to start the year, he’s been a rim guy. But he had the whole bag going tonight.”
Despite Dybantsa’s heroics down the stretch, it wasn’t enough to topple a UConn squad that built an early lead and did not relinquish it — despite several attempts from the Cougars to claw back.
For all of the talk of Dybantsa’s return to Massachusetts, it was also a welcome homecoming for Huskies redshirt senior Alex Karaban — with the Southborough native standing as one of three UConn players to post 21 points to go along with three rebounds, two steals, and a block.
“I loved it,” Karaban said of playing at TD Garden. “I mean, I definitely had this game circled. … It was special. Some of my favorite games of my UConn career were the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games when we came here two years ago. So just being blessed to have the opportunity to come back here, play with another UConn squad was awesome. I loved every second of it.”
“I mean, AJ deserves it,” Karaban added of the hype around Dybantsa. “He’s one hell of a player, just what he’s done for Boston. … He deserved the homecoming too.”
That praise wasn’t necessarily shared by a boisterous UConn crowd, especially during the opening 20 minutes of action.
As his offensive game labored in the first half, Dybantsa was subject to jeers of “overrated!” as his shots continued to clang off the rim.
All it took was a couple of successful jumpers early in the second half to help the explosive forward start settling into a rhythm. Once Dybantsa’s shots from both midrange and beyond the arc started to fall, what was once a 20-point lead for the Huskies started to drain as Dybantsa’s confidence grew.
Even though he didn’t shred UConn in transition, Dybantsa used his strong frame to drive to the rim in crunch time — drawing fouls and finishing through contact.
With Celtics Jaylen Brown and Derrick White in attendance, Dybantsa and the Cougars cut the lead all the way down to two points with under 30 seconds to go.
But when handed a chance to take the lead, BYU’s Robert Wright III lost the handle on the ball — with UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. recovering the turnover to snuff out any hope of a Cougars comeback.
Despite the setback for Dybantsa and BYU, Hurley doled out plenty of praise for the future NBA star — whose stock should continue to soar as this season continues.
“Just the growth and his approach,” Hurley said of what has stood out about Dybantsa. “Sometimes you movie these kids, they come into college, these high draft picks, and it’s been over the course of years and years and years. You can see on film — the entitlement, the spoiled entitlement, the not guarding, the not being about the team. … I’m watching [his] evolution from game to game to tonight.
“I mean, this guy’s out there guarding, he’s on the backboard, he’s communicating with his teammates, and he’s playing with a level of desperation to win the game.
“For a guy that’s going to be maybe the number one pick — it’s a little refreshing to see this guy and the mental toughness. I mean, his first half was a mess, and for him to be able to put that behind him back home and putting that second-half performance on was as good as you’ll see from a freshman.”
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