PROVO, Utah — As much as the Arizona Wildcats embrace McKale Center and its supportive five-figure crowds, being away from home hasn’t been a bad thing for them, either.
It might even be better.
Much of the time, the Wildcats have a pretty good-sized rooting section, no matter where they play away from home, especially during weekend day games in big metro areas around the country, where locally-based UA alums can easily bring some McKale-style magic.
You know, "U of A" chants, swaths of red showing up no matter what the home team's colors are, and all of that.
That sort of atmosphere will probably be the case again Saturday at ASU, when the Wildcats take on a struggling Sun Devils team.
But it wasn’t on Monday. The Wildcats faced 18,000 vocal fans at BYU’s Marriott Center in a crowd that predominantly wore blue, with the 5,000 or so students behind UA’s second-half basket waving all manner of posters, balloons and banners in an effort to distract them.
It was the sort of stuff that might intimidate a guy like Brayden Burries, and maybe it did for a while. The freshman from Southern California had just four points in the one truly hostile environment UA had played in previously, a 71-67 win on cheap beer night at UConn on Nov. 19.
This time?
Burries responded to BYU fans by throwing down a career-high 29 points and a game-saving block in UA’s 86-83 win that moved the Wildcats to 21-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12.
“I think it's fun, to be honest,” Burries said. “I like going into the arena, seeing all the fans, and then them just being quiet at the end.”
Arizona guard Brayden Burries, right, moves the ball as BYU forward Mihailo Boskovic (5) defends during the second half, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
Maybe it helps that Burries shares the backcourt with senior guard Jaden Bradley, who has long made a habit of quieting opposing fans. Bradley is averaging 21.0 points and shooting 58.3% in away games this season, a marked contrast from the 10.3 points and 44.4% shooting he averages at McKale.
Last season at BYU, in typical fashion, Bradley hit all eight free throws he took in the second half while facing the student section, saying afterward that “you kind of just zone out and knock them down.”
Arizona won that game 85-74. This time, in a second half when Arizona’s lead was melting down from 19 to a single point, the pressure ramping up, Bradley hit all four free throws he took, and Burries hit 7 of 8.
They were almost perfect, though Bradley kicked himself Monday for missing the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity late in the first half.
“Missed a couple early. Definitely got to hit those,” Bradley said. “They add up at the end. Instead of being up one, we (could be) probably up three or four. Got to work on those.”
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley goes up to shoot against BYU guard Robert Wright III during the second half of their game, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Provo, Utah.
Still, Bradley wound up with 26 points and, like Burries, actually wound up helping win the game with defense: Bradley stuck closely on BYU guard Robert Wright as he drove to the basket, nearly stealing the ball from Wright as he went up — with Burries then swooping in to bat Wright’s shot away with his right hand.
For UA coach Tommy Lloyd, it was reminiscent of how UA lost to BYU at McKale Center last season after Cougar wing Richie Saunders drove toward the basket with the Wildcats up 95-94 and just three seconds remaining.
That time, Saunders drew a controversial foul from Trey Townsend, allowing Saunders to go to the line and hit two free throws that gave BYU a 96-95 win.
This time, officials were silent as Bradley closely defended Wright.
“Fortunately, they didn't call a foul,” Lloyd said. Last season, “they got down close to the rim and (officials) called a foul and we lost the game. So that's just how it goes sometimes.”
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd talks with a game official during a first half time out in the game against BYU in Tucson, Feb. 22, 2025.
Wright finished with just seven points on 3-for-16 shooting, and BYU star freshman AJ Dybantsa was 6 for 24 from the field while scoring 24 points, two days after he dropped 43 on Utah.
Not surprisingly, BYU coach Kevin Young said they were the two options on the play.
“Rob's a gamer,” Young said. “I trust him in those moments. Quite frankly, him and AJ, neither one of them really had it going. But those are guys we’re going to ride and die with. The first option was to get AJ the ball. They clogged the area we were trying to get it to. Then we got the ball in Rob's hands to make a play.”
Instead, Dybantsa was left to foul Burries after he blocked Wright and grabbed the ball. Then Burries went to the free-throw line, faced those student fans, and knocked down two game-sealing free throws with 2.1 seconds left.
That gave Wright just enough time to take an inbounds pass, dribble once and throw up a 60-footer that missed badly before the buzzer ... while fans filed quietly out of the building.
“Just winning with my teammates,” Burries said. “It's fun.”
