After a dominant home win against Utah this past weekend, the BYU Cougars suffered a heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Arizona at home Monday.
The Cougars are now 17–3 on the season, and Arizona kept its undefeated season alive with a 21–0 record after the 86–83 win.
BYU kept up with Arizona’s scoring attack at the beginning of the game, but Arizona’s Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley started to heat up in the first half, leading the Cougars at halftime by 13 points.
Every time BYU started to chip away at the lead, Arizona had a response, pulling ahead by as many as 19 points in the middle of the second half.
BYU was down by 11 with a minute left to play but began to rally back. With 11 seconds left, Arizona only led by one, and BYU had the ball.
BYU guard Rob Wright drove the ball down the court and found himself with a wide-open layup with four seconds left to take the lead, but it was blocked away by Jayden Burries to seal the Arizona victory.
“Rob made a good play,” said BYU freshman forward AJ Dybansta in the post-game press conference. “He got to the rim, held the ball strong. The ref said it was a clean block—it was a clean block. I think it was a good opportunity; I think the way we fought was a little better, and I’m just happy with the way we fought.”
After a monstrous night just a couple of days before, Dybansta had himself a bit of an off night, ending with 24 points on 6-for-24 shooting and 1-for-8 from three.
“I missed shots,” Dybansta said. “I normally make my middies, but it wasn’t falling. Wide-open threes weren’t falling. I just missed shots.”
Senior guard Richie Saunders said he appreciated the late-game push to rally for a comeback, but the Cougars need to execute for the entire 40 minutes of the game.
“It sucks when this happens, when you come up short,” Saunders said. “But if we can just figure out how to execute for that full 40 minutes and not have any lapses, that’s when we’re going to reach our potential.”
BYU head coach Kevin Young said this game showed they can hang with the best of the best in college basketball.
“I mean, we’re right there with every team in the country,” Young said. “I thought that before the game, and I think it just as much now as I did before the game.”
While the loss definitely stings, it’s not the end of the world for Cougar Nation. BYU has proved that even when down in a rut, they can power back and compete with any team in the nation.
Their next game is against No. 14 Kansas on Jan. 31. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas.