Arizona led 64-45 with 10:53 left in the game, was still on top 82-72 with under a minute left and had to hold on to beat BYU 86-83 on Monday night in Provo. Arizona was uncharacteristically careless in the final minute of the game.
The near comeback for BYU really began with 37 seconds left when Brayden Burries committed a Class A flagrant foul. A.J. Dybyantsa made both free throws to cut the deficit to 83-79. After Robert Wright III missed a three-point attempt, following the Dybantsa free throws, Burries split a pair from the line.
A Kennard Davis dunk on the fast break cut the BYU deficit to 84-81 with 21 seconds left. Jaden Bradley was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds to give BYU possession. Keba Keita had a putback off of a Dybansta missed three-point shot to get BYU within 84-83.
Bradley was tied up with 12 seconds left to give BYU possession and a chance to take the lead. Bradley redeemed himself with excellent defense on Wright III and Burries blocked his runner in the lane. Burries subsequently made two free throws with three seconds left to provide the final margin.
Burries scored a career high 29 points and Jaden Bradley had 26 and Arizona played exceptional defense on Dybansta and Wright. Dybantsa scored 24 points, but made just six out of his 24 shots from the field and one of eight three-point attempts. Wright had seven points on three out of 16 from the field.
Arizona used a 14-4 run at the end of the first half to seize control of the game and take a 44-31 lead at halftime. Arizona held BYU to 40.3 shooting from the field. BYU made three of 14 three-point shots in the first half. BYU shot 46.2 percent from the field in the second half and made 10 out of 20 three-point shots.
Ivan Karchenkov and Koa Peat finished with 10 points each as the other Wildcats in double figures. Arizona is off until Saturday when it plays at Arizona State in the second of the two-game regular season series.