Kansas is set for one of its biggest matchups in Big 12 play this weekend, especially at Allen Fieldhouse. It will be the 1,000th game played in the building, and there is no better scene set than a Top 15-ranked matchup with College GameDay in town.
The Jayhawks have a big showdown with No. 13 BYU on Saturday, and while all eyes will be on Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa going head-to-head, Bill Self is worried about more than the elite freshman. The projected No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the NBA Draft certainly will put on a show, but Self knows that BYU is a team full of elite players.
In an interview with college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein, Self was asked about his thoughts on BYU, and while he knows that Dybantsa is a problem that will be tough to deal with, the Cougars have a lot of players who are excellent playmakers.
"People talk so much about AJ [Dybantsa], but [Robert] Wright is good, but [Richie] Saunders has been just killing it the last two years," Self said. "He is so good, he gets such great elevation with his jumper that it's a hard one to contest."
What are Bill Self's impressions of BYU?https://t.co/c9JLel2QnF (Apple)https://t.co/EsZxIkca32 (Spotify)https://t.co/DZVnzRZUeJ (YouTube) pic.twitter.com/MrB6SJQWVq
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) January 28, 2026
Self knows that he can't put too much attention on Dybantsa on Saturday because BYU has other guys, like Richie Saunders and Robert Wright III, who he mentioned above, who can easily take the game over.
Saunders, who has been with BYU the last two seasons, is the second-leading scorer behind Dybantsa with 18.8 points a game, shooting nearly 50% fromt he floor and 39.3% from beyond the arc. Wright is the third-leading scorer with 17.6 points per game and also creates so many other shots for players with 5.2 assists per game.
BYU is a great team, and Self knows that Kansas will have to be at its best defensively to take them down.