Anthony Dell'Orso has season-high 22 points to lead Arizona 75-68 win over BYU

For one game at least, the Arizona Wildcats survived being unusually shorthanded. 

They just looked a little different.

Getting a season-high 22 points from reserve Anthony Dell’Orso in a stepped up role off the bench, and a few bursts of energy from seldom-used forward Sidi Gueye, the Wildcats beat BYU 75-68 on Wednesday at McKale Center.

The Wildcats were playing without starting forward Koa Peat (lower leg strain) and reserve forward Dwayne Aristode (unspecified illness). Before Aristode sat out UA’s Feb. 14 loss to Texas Tech, the Wildcats hadn’t been without one of their eight rotation players for a game all season.

In addition, UA coach Tommy Lloyd said leading scorer Brayden Burries was fighting an illness on a night when he had 11 points on just 4-of-13 shooting. After the game, Burries posted an Instagram story that showed an IV attached to an arm, with a sickly face emoji and a prayer emoji.

"I want to give Brayden a lot of credit," Lloyd said. "Brayden is not feeling well. He's going to be fine, but he really battled through that game. It's been a tough couple days for him."

Arizona (24-2, 11-2) will likely be without both Peat and Aristode again on Saturday when the Wildcats play at Houston (23-3, 11-2) in a showdown for first place in the Big 12.

Peat will definitely sit out Saturday and probably Tuesday at Baylor because Lloyd said he wouldn't be re-evaluated until the Wildcats return from their Texas trip. Aristode's situation is unclear; Lloyd said he didn't know what his timeline to return was, except that "I don't think it's anything crazy long."

Missing basically two and a half of their eight rotation players  left their other five regular players with bigger roles to fill, so Dell'Orso's emergence from a slump for most of Big 12 play proved timely for the Wildcats.

While Dell’Orso scored in double-figures regularly during nonconference play, he entered Wednesday’s game shooting only 23.5% from 3-point range (8 of 34).

He had shown signs of a breakout coming, hitting 3 of 8 3-pointers over UA’s previous three games after making just 5 of 27 3s in nine Big 12 games before that. But on Wednesday, he not only hit 4 of 8 3-pointers but went to the basket aggressively on several occasions, including a game-sealing dunk with 32 seconds left off a feed from guard Jaden Bradley.

"It feels great, of course," Dell'Orso said of the game. "I think multiple guys had great games, not just me. I think everyone's feeling good. It's good to get a win like that at home. after the week we went through."

Gueye, meanwhile, contributed four points, four rebounds and a steal – but three fouls – in 10 minutes. He drew wild applause during a second-half sequence in which he threw in an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Jaden Bradley and then put in a basket on his offensive rebound.

In addition, starting wing Ivan Kharchenkov was only two points off his season high, scoring 18 points while shooting 7 for 12 from the field.

Together, the Wildcats hit 9 of 21 3-pointers, taking roughly four more than they normally would on a night when they took 64 field goals overall, and making up for the fact that they were actually outscored in the paint 30-26.

Scoring 26 of their 75 points off the bench was also unusual for Arizona, though 22 of those points were Dell'Orso's.

"You have to give their coaching staff credit for putting a team together that can hurt you in a lot of different ways," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "That's a really sign of a good team where you can win in multiple ways."

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Ahead by seven at halftime, Arizona built leads of up to 16 points midway through the second half. BYU’s Kennard Davis cut it to just 69-61 when he hit three free throws after Tobe Awaka fouled him beyond the arc with 3:19 to go.

But when Dybantsa lost the ball on the perimeter with just over two minutes to go, Kharchenkov picked it up and raced in for a dunk that gave UA a 73-61 lead and enough breathing room to hang on.

Davis cut it to 73-68 with a drive inside with 1:05 left but, after Keba Keita blocked Burries under the basket, Robert Wright turned the ball over on the other end, leading to Dell'Orso's dunk off the feed from Bradley-- who wound up with a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists.

UA led by more than two possession the rest of the way, though the slide was somewhat reminiscent of how the Cougars cut a 19-point UA lead down to one on Jan. 26 in Provo, Utah, before the Wildcats hung on for an 86-83 win.

"Gritty win by our guys," Lloyd said. "We knew it was going to be tough. We're going through with injuries right now, and it's just that point of the season where sometimes you hit a little struggle. If you don't embrace it, you're not built for it and our guys have done a good job embracing it, good wherewithal, and finding a way.

"I knew it wasn't going to be aesthetically pleasing every second of the game... and wish we could close it out a little bit better but if you watch college basketball, seems to be a theme."

Lloyd also credited his players for withstanding a 35-point outburst from BYU star freshman AJ Dybantsa.

While Arizona was adjusting without Peat and Aristode, BYU was playing its first game without shooting whiz Richie Saunders, who tore an ACL on Saturday against Colorado -- and Dybantsa said he was trying to mimic what Saunders had brought the Cougars.

In the first half, Dell’Orso scored 15 points, including a buzzer-beating 3 from the right corner just before halftime, to help Arizona take a 42-35 halftime lead.

Dell'Orso responded early by hitting 3 of 5 3 pointers in the first half lead Arizona, which shot 45.2% and was 5 of 13 from 3 overall.

Dybantsa led BYU in the half with 16 and the Cougars shot 44.8% overall but hit onlyu 2 of 9 3s.

Without Peat and Aristode both out for the first time this season, changes to Arizona’s rotation were immediately visible.

Senior Tobe Awaka started in place of Peat while the seldom-used Gueye and guard Evan Nelson both made appearances within the first seven minutes of the game.

Gueye first came in to replace center Motiejus Krivas after the first three minutes while Nelson came in three minutes later to play alongside Jaden Bradley on the perimeter.

Meanwhile, Dell’Orso played 10 minutes while hitting a 3-pointer shortly after he arrived, giving UA a 7-6 lead.

The Wildcats later went on an 8-0 run to take a 18-14 lead midway through the first half and the game remained within one possession from there until Dell’Orso hit his second 3-pointer with 57 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 37-33 lead.

Just before the halftime buzzer, Dell'Orso then curled around the right side of the wing and caught a pass in the corner from Bradley, then fired it in. Officials reviewed the shot to see if it was taken before the buzzer and ruled that he did.

"We're just trying to do everything we can to win right now," Bradley said. "We're short some key guys so it's just do anything to win -- rebound, attack the paint, get up more 3s.It showed tonight."