Arizona hangs on to beat BYU 65-57, continuing run for NCAA Tournament spot

This was a must-win game for the Wildcats to have any chance at making the NCAA Tournament. 

Arizona came out ready to take on the task on both ends of the court, playing disruptive defense and scoring inside and outside, then hung on in the fourth quarter to beat BYU 65-57 Wednesday night at McKale Center in front of 6,957 fans. 

Arizona stops a two-game losing streak to improve to 16-12, 7-8, while BYU drops to 13-13, 4-11. The Wildcats swept the season series with the Cougars. 

Arizona now controls its own destiny. Four more wins during the final three games in the Big 12 regular season — at Houston Saturday, Texas Tech at home on Tuesday and finishing it out at ASU on Saturday, March 1 — and one in the league tournament gets them to 20 wins. In addition, in the last few years in the Big 12, any team that has at least a .500 record has typically made the Big Dance. Winning four more games puts Arizona at 11-8 in conference. 

Skylar Jones said that Arizona coach Adia Barnes' message to her team was that "today starts a new season, for the hopes for the postseason."

Arizona was at full strength with Jada Williams back from taking one game off to manage the pain in her foot and Mailien Rolf returned from a concussion. Both were back in the starting lineup. 

Barnes managed Williams' time during the game to ease her back to playing. Her first shot — a 3 — with 3:55 left in the first quarter dropped like she hadn't missed a beat. However, she would not score again until she sensed her team needed it — with 1:20 left in the third quarter when Williams connected on a mid-range jumper to give UA a 43-34 lead.

She hit a big 3 and a layup to break the press in the second half. On the biggest play of the game, with 37 seconds left, it was Williams who dug deep and wasn't going to let BYU get an inbounds pass, getting on the floor at half court to come up with the ball. 

She ended up playing 21 minutes — much less than the typical 30.6 minutes per game that she averages. Williams finished with 12 points (4 of 7) and two steals. 

Of course, it wasn't smooth sailing. Arizona took a 37-21 lead into halftime, but BYU didn't give up, getting more aggressive in the second half. The reigning Big 12 freshman of the week, Delaney Gibb got hot, scoring 14 of her 16 points in the second half. 

"Our second half (didn't go) that well," Barnes said. "But I wanted to celebrate the win because wins are hard to come by. We know teams are going to make runs, but just our second half attention to details at certain times for long periods has to get better."

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Barnes added that sometimes the guards were going under screening actions, which is "a lack of discipline and I think our youth shows up in those stressful times." 

BYU would get as close as four points. All of Arizona's points down the stretch came on free throws. 

"They're a good shooting team," Breya Cunningham said. "... I think us not being as aggressive on defense in that third quarter and losing a couple of people in transition, (they were) able to cut down the lead and then get that confidence."

Three other Wildcats finished in double figures: Isis Beh had 14 points (7 of 8 free throws, three steals), Cunningham scored 11 points (eight rebounds, two steals and four blocks) and Skylar Jones with 13 (4 of 7). 

The Wildcats' shots weren't falling in the third quarter, going on a long scoring drought and letting BYU climb back in. The Cougars out-scored the Wildcats 15-6 in the frame, to cut the lead to 43-36. 

"Amari Whiting has really long arms and she's a really good defender," Barnes said. "She was able to put a lot of pressure on us ... We usually don't turn the ball over in live action like we did today."

UA turned the ball over 18 times for 17 BYU points. However, BYU had a hard time handling the ball, as well, as the Wildcats forced 21 turnovers and scored 23 points off them. 

The Wildcat posts led their teammates in the first half, combing for 17 points — Beh with 9 (3 of 3) and Cunningham with 8 points (4 of 6). Plus, no fouls for either post player. Having them on the court for most of the game is key for Arizona. Cunningham finished with two fouls, while Beh only had one. 

Arizona started pulling away in the last 4:42 of the first quarter. The Wildcats went on a 14-3 run, overlapping the first and second quarters as the Cougars didn't score a field goal for nearly 7½ minutes. BYU had four turnovers in 6:38 during that first quarter. 

For much of the first half, the Wildcats kept the Cougars off the 3-point line. BYU finally broke though with 1:19 left in the half and knocked one down at the buzzer. The Wildcats held them to 33%, shooting 3s on 2 of 6 attempts and 32% from the field. 

Photos: University of Arizona holds on to edge BYU 65-57, Big 12 basketball