Arizona survives scare at BYU to win 86-83 and match best start in school history

PROVO, Utah – The Arizona Wildcats tied the hottest start in school history Monday but only after surviving their biggest scare of the season.

Despite having their 19-point lead melted to to just a single point with 16 seconds to go, the Wildcats hung on for an 86-83 win over BYU a rowdy sold-out crowd of about 18,000 at the Marriott Center.

The Wildcats were led by guards Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley, with Burries scoring 29 points while hitting 13 of 14 free throws, and Bradley scoring 26 points.

Burries said the guards were just executing a "read and react flow" and their offense on a night when centers Motiejus Krivas (two points) and Tobe Awaka (nine) combined for just 11 points, helped moved UA to 21-0, matching the school-record start UA had in 2013-14.

Arizona, also 8-0 in Big 12 play, will get a chance to break the record Saturday at ASU.

For much of Monday's game, the Wildcats were almost coasting toward the record. UA led by 13 at halftime and up to 19 in the second half -- and by 10 entering the final minute -- before nearly unraveling in a tense final minute.

After Bradley hit four free throws over 13 seconds to give UA an 82-71 lead with 1:22 to go, the Wildcats fouled a 3-point shooter, committed two other personal fouls and a flagrant foul while also turning the ball over once.

Yet they still held on, barely.

"Just tough stuff," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "I mean, it felt like everything at the end kind of went against us. Our guys have competitive character, and hung in there and found a way. But that easily could have gone the other way."

Some fans had already left the Marriott Center by the time Burries fouled BYU star freshman AJ Dybantsa behind the 3-point line with 1:01 left.

While Dybantsa hit only one of the three free throws, BYU guard Richie Saunders rebounded his last miss, and Cougar guard Robert Wright hit a 3-pointer to cut UA's lead to 82-75 with 56 seconds left.

Nineteen seconds later, with UA ahead by six points, UA wing Ivan Kharchenkov lost the ball in a crowd under the BYU basket, on a play when Burries was called for a flagrant foul. That gave BYU two free throws and the ball with 35.4 seconds left.

Dybantsa hit both free throws to cut UA’s lead to 83-79 but missed a jumper on the Cougars' ensuing possession, and after Burries rebounded it, Wright fouled him.

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Burries made 1 of 2 free throws to put UA ahead 84-79, but BYU’s Kennard Davis threw in an alley-oop dunk with 21 seconds left and, after Bradley turned the ball over, BYU center Keba Keita made a rebound basket with 16 seconds left before UA called a timeout, leading just 84-83.

After the timeout, BYU's Wright drove in for a layup but Burries swooped over from the right side for a block. Dybantsa fouled Burries when he took the ball, then hit two free throws with three seconds left to give UA the winning margin.

BYU had a final possession but not enough time to get anywhere near the basket, and Wright's desperation half court heave at the buzzer fell well short.

"I thought for long stretches in the game, we played great," Lloyd said. "They surmounted a hard charge at the end. I didn't think was going to get to that point, but it did. They had the ball with 11 seconds to go down one and Brayden came up with a big time defensive play, then got the rebound and made two free throws. It's a big time finish for us."

It was the closest game the Wildcats have played all season, and the only one in which their opponent had a chance to win in the final seconds. UA beat UConn just 71-67 on Nov. 19 but, after cutting it to two points with two seconds left, center Tobe Awaka rebounded the ball and was fouled just before the final buzzer, when he hit two game-sealing free throws..

Basically, it was the sort of finish that might be expected when a No. 13 team hosts a No. 1 opponent, as was the beginning of the game. It was played within a single possession for much of the first 14 minutes, before UA went on a 16-3 run toward the end of the first half to take a 44-31 halftime lead.

The Wildcats finished a 16-3 run late in the first half when Bradley hit a pullup jumper with 1:33 left, making seven straight field goals. They wound up shooting an even 50% from the field though just 2 of 8 from 3-point range while holding BYU to 33.3%.

Arizona kept rolling through most of the second half despite having to face the BYU student section behind their basket. They went ahead by 19 points, 64-45, when Motiejus Krivas dunked with 10:53 left, but their lead gradually shrunk to single digits, 78-71, when BYU's Richie Saunders hit a 3-pointer with 2:02 left, before the trouble began. 

Arizona wound up shooting 52.8% while holding BYU to 40.3%. The Wildcats also made Dybantsa work hard for his team-high 24 points after scoring 43 against Utah on Saturday. The projected high NBA Draft lottery pick shot 6 for 24 from the field, though he made 11 of 16 free throws.

"We knew we were going to give him a lot of different looks," said Lloyd, rotated several players on Dybantsa. "It wasn't anything crazy. We knew over the course of the game we were going to have to give him different looks and, so we just kind of started that way, and iwe were going to see how it goes, and we would adjust from there."

While the Wildcats moved to 21-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big 12, BYU dropped to 17-3 and 5-2. UA and BYU will meet again on Feb. 18 at McKale Center.