The last time Arizona and BYU met, just a few weeks ago, the Wildcats were unbeaten and the No. 1 team in the country. A lot has changed since then, for both teams.
The UA (23-2, 10-2) is riding a 2-game skid, having lost at Kansas and then at home to Texas Tech to drop out of first place in the Big 12 and fall to No. 4 in the AP poll. Meanwhile, BYU (19-6, 7-5) has fallen off the pack for the conference title and is now just trying to have a chance to finish in the top four and get a double bye into the Big 12 Tournament next month in Kansas City.
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The Cougars have managed to stay in the rankings, sitting at No. 23, which makes them the third of what will be four consecutive ranked opponents on Arizona’s schedule. The UA is 0 for 2 in that stretch and is trying to avoid its first 3-game losing streak since late in the 2019-20 season.
Arizona will be wearing special “Galaxy Slam” uniforms to commemorate the school’s connection to the space industry. Last year it wore red at home against BYU, the only time it did so, and lost on a controversial foul call in the final seconds.
Here’s what to watch for when the Wildcats and Cougars battle it out at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena:
Who won’t play?
Against Texas Tech, Arizona was without Dwayne Aristode due to an illness and then it saw Koa Peat sit out the second half with what was described as a lower leg injury. The Wildcats were basically down to a 6-man rotation for the final 20 minutes and that likely contributed to the loss.
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But it’s not just Arizona that is dealing with personnel losses. BYU senior Richie Saunders—the beneficiary of the aforementioned foul call last season—announced Sunday he was out for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL Saturday against Colorado.
Saunders was averaging 18 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for BYU, shooting nearly 39 percent from 3 and better than 81 percent from the foul line. In the first meeting with Arizona this season he had 18 points and nine rebounds and was 3 of 7 from 3.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd eluded to the possibility of both Aristode and Peat missing this game, but the first official info about that will come with Tuesday night’s availability report.
Rotation reinforcements?
Assuming Aristode and Peat are unavailable, Arizona will almost certainly not stick with just the six other rotation players. Sidi Gueye logged just over a minute in the second half against Texas Tech, scoring a basket on a nice putback jumper, and figures to see more action this time if only to help spell Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krivas in the frontcourt.
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Guard Evan Nelson also could see some run to help spell Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries. The senior transfer from Harvard has only appeared in six Big 12 games, logging 13 minutes of mop-up duty with five points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
“We will see where our numbers end up, and we have a better idea,” Lloyd said after the Texas Tech game. “This kind of fell on us pretty fast, these last few days. So if we have a little more lead time, I think we’ll definitely want to look at Evan and Sidi, kind of some roles that can kind of help give us a little more depth.”
Shot selection
The last two games have seen Arizona shoot below 50 percent from inside the arc, something that had only happened three times during the 23-0 start. Kansas and Texas Tech both packed the paint, making it as difficult for the Wildcats to score close to the basket as possible, and that resulted in their average 2-point distance to be noticeably higher than normal.
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Against Tech it was 7.0 feet, while at Kansas it was 6.6. For the season the UA’s average 2-point distance is 5.6 feet, and in Big 12 play it’s 6.1, both fairly close for a team that doesn’t take a lot of 3s.
BYU forced Arizona furthest from the basket of any conference opponent, 9.3 feet, yet it shot 58.5 percent on 2s.
Might the addition of Gueye and Nelson to the mix lead to Arizona taking more shots from 3? It took 15 at Kansas and 16 against Texas Tech despite the way those teams defended, and at BYU the Wildcats took only 12 perimeter shots.
Round 2 vs. AJ
In the 86-83 win at BYU last month Arizona held freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa to 6-of-24 shooting, the worst performance of his brief college career, including 1 of 8 from 3. But Dybantsa still scored a team-high 24 points by taking 16 foul shots, making 11.
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Dybantsa is 12th nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, at 7.4, and prompted more than 10 whistles on Arizona. The Wildcats allow 17 free throws per game in Big 12 play, and only two other BYU players got to the line in that first meeting.
One of those was point guard Robert Wright III, whose potential game-winning shot was blocked by Burries in the final seconds. Wright was 2 for 11 in that game for seven points, but since then he’s been on a tear, averaging 24.2 points including back-to-back games over 30 with 39 against Colorado.
