Utah : Brayden Burries scored 29 points as top-ranked Arizona survived a late scare to beat No. 13 BYU 86-83 in a Big 12 Conference clash on Monday.
Jaden Bradley added 26 points while Ivan Kharchenkov and Koa Peat scored 10 apiece for Arizona (21-0, 8-0 Big 12), which saw a 19-point second-half lead cut to one in the final minute. It was the Wildcats’ narrowest victory of their unbeaten season.
AJ Dybantsa led BYU (17-3, 5-2) with 24 points but struggled from long range, missing seven of eight three-point attempts. Richie Saunders scored 18 points and Kennard Davis Jr. added 17 as the Cougars lost for the second time in three games.
Arizona led 82-71 with 1:22 remaining before BYU surged back with a 12-2 run. Saunders grabbed an offensive rebound to set up Wright’s three-pointer, cutting the deficit to 82-75 with 56 seconds left. Keba Keita followed with a layup to make it 83-77, before Dybantsa converted two free throws after a flagrant-1 foul on Burries.
After Burries split a pair of free throws, Davis dunked and Keita scored again to pull BYU within 84-83 with 15 seconds left. The Cougars forced a held ball to regain possession with 11.6 seconds remaining, but Motiejus Krivas blocked Wright’s jumper in the lane. Burries secured the rebound, was fouled and sank two free throws to seal the result. Wright’s half-court attempt at the buzzer fell short.
Arizona built a 44-31 halftime lead with a 20-5 run late in the first half. Burries sparked the rally with a jumper to tie the game at 26-26, while Bradley contributed 10 points during the surge.
The much-anticipated first-half duel between freshmen Burries and Dybantsa delivered, with Burries scoring 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Dybantsa had 15 points but shot 4-for-11 from the field.
BYU opened the second half with an 8-2 run, trimming the margin to 44-36, but Arizona stretched the lead to 64-45 on a Krivas dunk with 10:53 remaining before holding on late.
