PROVO, Utah — Before the Arizona Wildcats coolly shushed more than 17,000 fans inside the Marriott Center late Tuesday night, BYU trumpeted how poorly opponents shot free throws against its crazed student section in the second halves of games.
Over the past six seasons, excluding the fan-less 2020-21 COVID season, BYU opponents had shot just 65.4% while staring at the waving arms of 5,000 well-decorated students, two gigantic air dancers like the ones you might see at car dealerships and a bunch of spinny things. Opponents had averaged notably better, 69.6%, in the first half.
But in the second half Tuesday, No. 20-ranked Arizona didn’t miss.
Well, walk-on Addison Arnold missed one free throw, but he was in the game for the final minute only because Arizona had pulled away for an 85-74 win in part because the Wildcats’ scholarship players had made 12 for 12 from the line after halftime.
UA became just the third BYU opponent since 2019 to shoot over 90% from the line in the second half at the Marriott Center, with Jaden Bradley leading the way by sinking all eight free throws he took with a particular focus.
“It’s definitely a distraction if you pay attention,” Bradley said. “You kind of just zone out and knock them down. Like, act like you’re in practice.”
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) goes to the basket between BYU guard Trevin Knell (21) and center Keba Keita (13) during the second half on Feb. 4, 2025, in Provo, Utah.
Bradley said his strategy was to think about something else and focus only on the rim, having suspected that doing otherwise might be a bad idea.
“When I wasn’t at the free-throw line, I looked over there and there were definitely some crazy distractions,” Bradley said.
As it turned out, much to UA coach Tommy Lloyd’s delight, Bradley and the Wildcats mostly kept focused on themselves the entire night in contrast to their 81-72 win at ASU three days earlier.
Bradley picked up a technical foul for gesturing to the ASU bench in the first half of that game, but on Tuesday he shrugged off a scoreless first half, put his head down and helped the Wildcats turn a 41-41 halftime tie into a double-digit win.
Bradley had 17 second-half points while making 4 of 6 field goals and all those free throws, keying the Wildcats during two 9-0 second-half runs.
“Jaden is becoming the consummate point guard,” Lloyd said. “He understands winning. He’s such a compliant player and person, it was just finding that balance of how aggressive do you need to be early versus running your team and I think he’s really settled into a sweet spot where he’s just running the team.
“He just literally makes the right play every single time. I told him he’s a way better point guard than I am a coach, and thank you for that.”
Lloyd said Bradley’s second-half play wasn’t a result of any halftime talk where he told Bradley to “be more aggressive,” and, true to form, Bradley spoke of UA’s offense afterward as if it were some sort of routine surgery.
In the first half, Bradley said, the Wildcats weren’t aggressive while trying to “mix and match” against BYU’s very defensive schemes, but they found a way in after halftime.
Namely, Bradley found a way to needle through the BYU defense, and especially get to the line on a night when Caleb Love had 18 points to help complement UA’s dominance at center: Henri Veesaar had 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting and six rebounds while Tobe Awaka had 14 points and nine rebounds.
BYU guard Egor Demin, left, goes to the basket against Arizona forward Henri Veesaar (13) during the first half Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Provo, Utah.
“We definitely got it going,” Bradley said. “I kind of saw what they were doing in the gaps. So I figured I’d drive, get in there, get my teammates open, get C-Love shots, Delly (Anthony Dell’Orso), get KJ (Lewis) on cuts. It just opened up everything in the second half.”
While Bradley was focusing on teammates and that rim, Love appeared to do much the same. Like Bradley, Love had been caught up in emotions at ASU, getting ejected for his response to a head-butting by ASU’s BJ Freeman, who was also ejected.
In that game, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley pulled his team off the floor before the postgame handshake, then complained afterward of chatter from UA players and hinted he would not give a vote to Love for Big 12 postseason honors.
In this game, Love celebrated in a different fashion while leading the Wildcats with 18 points, while making 4 of 9 3-pointers. None were more critical than the 3-pointer he sank just 18 seconds after BYU’s Kanon Catchings hit a 3 to put the Cougars up 61-60 with 10:51 left.
BYU was on a 7-2 run at that point, the Marriott Center crowd on its feet, and Lloyd could have called a timeout to settle everything down.
He let his players do so instead.
“I trust these guys to figure it out,” Lloyd said. “Caleb made a big 3. That’s way more powerful than me calling a timeout. I’ve always believed in that.”
The crowd barely had time to respond to Catchings before Love’s shot went in. But instead of celebrating directly at BYU players or fans, this time Love directed his emotions elsewhere.
“I wasn’t really going to the crowd,” Love said. “I was really telling my teammates, like, ‘we good.’ In the chaos of the game, you want to stay poised in all situations. And my energy was going to the team.”
Arizona guard Caleb Love reacts to a 3-point shot against BYU during the first half Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Provo, Utah.
Lloyd said he gave Love “a million percent credit” for his behavior, saying celebrations within a team are far more powerful than gestures or trash-talking to an opponent – and acknowledging that the Wildcats maybe haven’t always done it that way.
“I’m really proud of the progress these guys have made in that area,” Lloyd said. “Because you know what? We’ve had a few incidents this year where maybe it hasn’t gone the way we would like with some of those celebrations.”
BYU never led again after Love’s 3. The Cougars had just two baskets over the final 7:47 of the game, with fans filing quietly out of the Marriott Center as midnight approached.
By then, Lloyd had turned over the wheel to Bradley and his teammates.
He enjoyed the ride, too.
“First time playing against a new coach and a new team in a new conference, you don’t have all the tendencies” for scouting, Lloyd said. “You just have to rely on the players. As I was watching some of the actions and counters, literally, our guys were solving it on their own, which was amazing.”
