In a matchup Monday featuring the nation’s No. 1 team and arguably the nation’s No. 1 player, the No. 1 team prevailed — barely.
No. 1 Arizona opened up a 44-31 halftime lead over No. 13 BYU and freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa, then survived a furious second-half BYU rally that was fueled late by a flagrant foul on Brayden Burries that allowed BYU to cut a 19-point second-half deficit to 83-79.
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The Cougars had the ball and the chance to take the lead in the final seconds. But Burries redeemed himself with a late block of a Jaden Bradley shot at the basket and two free throws on the other end to ice the 86-83 Arizona win.
With the win, Arizona improved to 21-0 to maintain its place as one of three undefeated teams remaining in the top 25. No. 5 Nebraska and No. 24 Miami (Ohio) are the others. The win was the sixth for the Wildcats over a ranked team following previous wins over then-No. 3 Florida, No. 15 UCLA, No. 3 UConn, No. 20 Auburn and No. 12 Alabama.
Burries shines as Arizona defense flusters Dybantsa
While Dybantsa was a one-man show for BYU for much of the game, Burries was the best freshman and the best player on the court — for Monday night, at least. Burries paced Arizona to its double-digit halftime lead with 19 points at the break. He finished with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals — and the single block at the end to secure the win.
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Senior guard joined Burries with 26 points on a 10 of 15 shooting night from the floor.
Dybantsa, meanwhile, struggled against a elite Arizona defense led by 6-foot-7 wing Ivan Kharchenkov. Dybantsa led the Cougars with 24 points points alongside 4 rebounds and 5 assists. But he had to work to get there on a 6-of-24 shooting night from the floor while shooting 1 of 8 from 3.
And he was the only BYU player to repeatedly attack Arizona’s defense. Until 4:10 remaining in the game, Dybantsa accounted for all 10 of BYU’s free throw attempts. He finished shooting 11 of 16 at the stripe on a night when the Cougars shot 12 of 19 as a team.
There will be better nights ahead for Dybantsa, both with BYU and in the NBA. But he met a problem he couldn’t solve on Monday in an Arizona team that’s operating on all cylinders on both sides of the floor.
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Arizona faces unranked Arizona State and Oklahoma State next before a four-game stretch against ranked Big 12 opponents that starts with a road game against No. 14 Kansas on Feb. 9. From there, the Wildcats will host No. 11 Texas Tech and play BYU again at home before facing No. 10 Houston on the road on Feb. 21.
If they survive that stretch without a loss, talk of an undefeated season will be unavoidable.
