At one point Monday night, Arizona looked like it was going to blow a ranked opponent off its home court. Then suddenly the Wildcats were on the verge of an epic collapse. In the end, the perfect record remained intact.
On a night when he scored a career-high 29 points, a late block by Brayden Burries
ended up sealing top-ranked Arizona’s 86-83 win at No. 13 BYU and match the best start in school history.The UA (21-0, 8-0 Big 12) tied its best start in school history despite nearly blowing a 19-point
lead with just under 11 minutes left. The Wildcats were up 11 with 1:22 to go before almost everything that could possibly go wrong did, allowing the Cougars (17-3, 7-2) a chance to win it in the final seconds.
BYU forced a tie-up with 11.6 seconds left, then after Arizona called timeout set up a play for point guard Robert Wright. Wright drove the lane, and after Jaden Bradley slowed him down by getting his hands on the ball Burries came from behind and swatted it away as Wright went up less than three feet from the basket.
Burries, who was 13 of 14 from the line, made two free throws on the other end with 2.2 seconds left to surpass his previous high of 28, then a desperation 3 by the Cougars from behind halfcourt landed far short.
Bradley had 26 points, going 10 of 15 from the field, increasing his average against ranked opponents this season to 19.7 points per game. He had 17 in the first half while Burries had 19.
BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa had 24 points and drew 10 fouls but was 6 of 24 from the field, while Richie Saunders had 18 and nine rebounds and Kennard Davis had 17. But Wright, a transfer from Baylor who was averaging 22 points in Big 12 games, finished with 7 on 3-of-16 shooting.
Arizona shot 57.9 percent in the 2nd half and 52.8 percent overall, while BYU shot 40.3 percent and made 13 3-pointers, including 10 after halftime.
The Wildcats had more fouls (seven) in the first half than points (four) from its frontcourt yet led 44-31 at halftime, holding BYU to two field goals over the final 7:48 of the first half. Dybantsa had been the only Cougar to score over the last 10 minutes before the break butWright started the second half with a floater andDavis hit a 3-pointer to make it an 8-point game.
Davis hit another 3, after having missed 17 straight dating back to Jan. 10, to get BYU within seven, but then Burries hit his third triple. The Wildcats kept the lead in double digits until the 2-minute mark.
Five straight points by Tobe Awaka started a 9-0 run to go up 64-45 with 10:53 left. BYU started hitting some shots from outside, though, with a triple fromSaunders cutting it to 14, then Dybantsa then drew Peat’s fourth foul with 6:51 to go.
Davis hit another 3 to get BYU within 73-62 only to see Bradley hit his own from outside on the other end. One more Davis triple made it a 10-point game, then Peat missed three free throw attempts (including an extra after a lane violation), and Saunders hit a 3 to make it 78-71 with 1:59 remaining.
Bradley hit two free throws with 1:32 left, then after a missed BYU 3 was fouled and hit two more with 1:19 to go to get it back to an 11-point lead before the Cougars made their final push.
A Wright 3 cut it to 82-75 with 53.1 seconds left, then Keba Keita was fouled on a basket. He missed the free throw but BYU got the ball back and Burries was called for a flagrant foul on Dybantsa, who made both foul shots, to make it 83-79 with 35.4 seconds left.
Dybantsa drove on Koa Peat on the ensuing BYU possession and Peat defended it well, forcing the miss. Burries was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws before Keita dunked on a lob on the other end to get within three.
Bradley was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds, and Keita put back a missed Dybantsa 3 with 15 seconds left before Bradley was tied up and BYU got the ball back for its final possession.
The high-level play began from the start, with five lead changes in the first four minutes. Burries had 13 points in the first five-plus minutes, including 11 in a row, helping Arizona build a 4-point lead.
But then the Wildcats then went into a long scoring drought which came immediately afterAwaka fouled Dybantsa twice in a minute. He did not return until the 7-minute mark, after Motiejus Krivas got his second foul.
A 3-pointer by Mihailo Boskovic put the Cougars up 20-18 with 12:12 left but didn’t score for almost four minutes, unable to take advantage of Arizona missing eight straight shots beforePeat ended the scoring drought with a jumper.
Arizona got nine points off BYU’s first five turnovers, including a basket byBradley off a steal immediately after Burries scored inside the put the Wildcats back ahead 28-26 with 6:43 to go before halftime.
Peat got his second foul with 5:46 left in the half, both drawn by Dybantsa, yet Arizona managed to extend its lead by turning defense into offense. Baskets by Ivan Kharchenkov and Burries put the Wildcats up 36-27.
Arizona outscored BYU 20-5 over the final 6:52 of the first half, making seven of its last eight shots.
The UA is off until Saturday when it visits ASU (11-9, 2-5) with a chance to break the record for best start in school history. The Wildcats beat the Sun Devils 89-82 at home on Jan. 14.
