NEW YORK — Robert Wright III made a 3-pointer as time expired after AJ Dybantsa scored 22 of his season-high 28 points in the second half, and No. 10 BYU stormed back from a 22-point deficit to beat Clemson 67-64 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.
The Cougars (8-1) lost a six-point lead in the final 70 seconds but completed the comeback when Wright took an inbounds pass from Mihailo Boskovic and sank a long 3 from the right side.
Clemson scored 21 straight points over the last 6:45 of the first half to build a 43-22 cushion at halftime. But after trailing 44-22 with 18 1/2 minutes remaining, BYU pulled off the largest second-half comeback in school history.
Dybantsa surpassed his previous high of 25 in the Cougars’ two-point loss to UConn on Nov. 15 in Boston. The freshman sensation shot 9 for 17 and grabbed nine rebounds to go with six assists. He highlighted the biggest night of his college career so far with a one-handed dunk from the middle of the lane that put BYU up 62-56 with 1:10 left.
After his thunderous slam, Clemson rallied, and a layup by Dillon Hunter tied it at 64 with 5 seconds remaining.
Wright added 17 points and Keba Keita had 10 with four dunks, including a slam that led to an uneven rim and caused a nearly 20-minute delay with 11:40 left and BYU trailing by nine.
Jestin Porter paced Clemson (7-3) with 17 points but the Tigers were outscored 45-21 in the second half. RJ Godfrey added 13 and Efrem Johnson had 10 as Clemson shot 36.2% overall, including 25.9% after halftime.
BYU shot 40.3% and overcame an off night from Richie Saunders, who was held to five points. Saunders shot 2 for 11 and missed all seven 3-point tries.
Dybantsa was 2 for 6 in the first half, but the forward hit an array of difficult shots to fuel the comeback.
After there were eight ties in the opening 13 minutes, Porter sparked Clemson’s big run — including one shot that rolled in as the shot clock expired.
Up next
Clemson: Hosts Mercer on Saturday.
BYU: Hosts UC Riverside on Saturday.
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