Brayden Burries scored 29 points as No. 1 Arizona hung on for an 86-83 win over No. 13 BYU in a Big 12 Conference showdown on Monday in Provo, Utah.
Jaden Bradley added 26 points and Ivan Kharchenkov and Koa Peat each chipped in 10 points for Arizona (21-0, 8-0 Big 12), which prevailed despite seeing a 19-point second-half lead get trimmed to one in the final minute.
The margin of victory was the Wildcats’ smallest of their so-far perfect season.
AJ Dybantsa led BYU (17-3, 5-2) with 24 points, but he missed seven of his eight 3-point attempts. Richie Saunders racked up 18 points and Kennard Davis Jr. added 17 points as the Cougars lost for the second time in three games.
BYU trailed 82-71 with 1:22 to play before going on a furious 12-2 run. Saunders’ offensive rebound led to Wright’s trey to cut Arizona’s lead to 82-75 with 56 seconds left.
Keba Keita’s layup pulled BYU within 83-77 with 40 seconds remaining. Dybantsa hit two foul shots after a flagrant-1 foul on Burries.
After Burries split a pair of free throws, Davis’ dunk and Keita’s layup pulled BYU within 84-83 with 15 seconds left.
BYU forced a held ball with 11.6 seconds to go and took possession, but Motiejus Krivas blocked Wright’s jumper in the lane. Burries got the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws.
Wright’s half-court heave at the buzzer was short.
A 20-5 rally gave Arizona a 44-31 halftime lead. A Burries jumper got it started and tied the game at 26-26. Bradley had 10 points in the run on a layup and four short-range jumpers.
In the first half, the duel between two freshmen, Burries and Dybantsa, lived up to the hype. Burries scored 19 points, made 6 of 10 shot attempts and hit all six of his free throws. While Dybantsa piled up 15 points, he hit only 4 of 11 field-goal attempts and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
The Cougars opened the second half with an 8-2 scoring burst. Wright’s jumper and two treys from Davis cut Arizona’s lead to 44-36. The Wildcats took a 64-45 lead on a Krivas dunk with 10:53 remaining.
–Field Level Media
