No. 20 Arizona clamps down late to seal win over BYU
Feb 4, 2025, 11:37 PM
No. 20 Arizona men’s basketball shut down BYU late after an exciting first half on Tuesday, forcing multiple scoring droughts down the stretch to take a key road win, 85-74.
Arizona (16-6, 10-1) is rolling having won five in a row and 12 of 13 dating back to the middle of December.
Arizona and BYU (15-7, 6-5) didn’t let either go up by anymore than a few points until late in the second half when Arizona turned a 67-66 advantage into a 80-68 lead.
BYU was stuck at 66 from 7:47 to 4:31 in the second half, and things didn’t get much better after Richie Saunders broke the snide with a pair of free throws.
Arizona held the hosting Cougars scoreless for another two minutes of game time when Keba Keita hit one free throw.
The Cougars went cold down the stretch, failing to make a field goal for almost seven minutes. The drought was finally broken with a layup that came while Arizona led by double digits in the final minute. BYU finished the night 27-of-66 from the field, 9-of-33 from 3 and 8-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Arizona finished 31-of-63 from the field, 8-of-21 from deep and an efficient 15-of-17 from the free throw line.
Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Caleb Love led all scorers with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jaden Bradley went for 17 points including an 8-of-8 showing at the stripe and two steals. Henri Veesaar chipped in 17 points, six rebounds, two steals and one block.
The two high-powered offenses combined for 82 points at the first-half break, and ended an exciting first half tied at 41.
The Wildcats knotted things up with a clean and emphatic alley-oop connection between Love and Veesaar as the clock ticked down to the final seconds of the half:
TO CLOSE THE HALF‼️ pic.twitter.com/ojsu09WSX3
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) February 5, 2025
Love finished the first with 11 points and three triples. Tobe Awaka led the Wildcats with 12 first-half points and six boards.
Arizona will host No. 13 Texas Tech on Saturday before playing at Kansas State next week.