Arizona reserve guard Anthony Dell’Orso scored a career-high 22 points to lead the fourth-ranked Wildcats to a 75-68 victory over No. 23 BYU on Wednesday in a Big 12 game at Tucson, Ariz.
Dell’Orso’s scoring output helped the load with Arizona’s second-leading scorer Koa Peat out indefinitely with a lower-leg muscle strain.
Both sides battled injuries as Dwayne Aristode (illness) missed his second straight game for Arizona. BYU’s Richie Saunders is out for the rest of the season with an ACL tear.
Arizona (24-2, 11-2 Big 12) snapped a two-game skid after winning its first 23 games, while BYU (19-7, 7-6) has lost five of its last seven games.
Dell’Orso reached 15 points in the first half on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point range, including a last-second shot from beyond the arc to give Arizona a 42-35 lead at halftime.
Robert Wright III (13 points) had a chance to cut into the lead but the ball was stripped of him in the lane by Motiejus Krivas.
Jaden Bradley tied his career high with his 10th assist following the steal, feeding Dell’Orso for a dunk with 32 seconds left to seal the victory. Bradley had a double-double adding 12 points to his assist total.
Ivan Kharchenkov finished with 18 points and Brayden Burries had 11.
AJ Dybantsa, who had 35 points, alongside Wright combined for 27 points in the first half on 9-of-20 shooting from the field.
Dybantsa scored 14 of BYU’s first 18 points of the second half, including 12 consecutive points.
Arizona outscored BYU 7-2 in one stretch to take a 53-43 lead with 13:39 left with the last four points by reserve forward Sidi Gueye on an alley-oop pass from Bradley and score off an offensive rebound.
The Wildcats’ lead increased to 69-53 with 5:25 left on a Burries 3-pointer.
BYU went on an 8-0 run, with five points from Kennard Davis Jr., to cut the lead to 69-61 with 3:19 left.
Arizona responded with two free throws by Bradley and a steal and dunk by Kharchenkov that increased the lead to 73-61 with 2:37 left.
Dybantsa made a 3-pointer to help an 8-0 run that cut the lead to 73-68.
–Field Level Media
