Arizona Escapes Provo With 21st Win of the Season
In this story:
After dominating their last two opponents by an average of 30.5 points, the No. 1 ranked Arizona Wildcats were tested by the No. 13 BYU Cougars and battled to an 86-83 win in hostile territory, the closest margin of victory in the season.
Arizona (21-0) tied the 2013-2014 team for the best start of the season. That Sean Miller led squad finished with a 33-5 record and made it to the Elite Eight, where it lost to Wisconsin 64-63. Arizona endured an attempted comeback by BYU (17-3) to win the physical game.
For the second time in school history, your Arizona Wildcats are 21-0. pic.twitter.com/5LnASDZTiK
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 27, 2026
Freshman Brayden Burries finished with a team high and career high 29 points, which is the third time he had ended with at least 25 points, the third most of an Arizona freshman. Jaden Bradley ended the night with 26 points. Both Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov scored 10 points in the gritty contest.
First half
The Wildcats were holding onto a narrow 30-27 lead with five minutes left to play in the first half behind an emphatic start by Burries, making the Cougars pay for leaving him open and taking advantage of costly fouls.
BYU was able to stay in the game by utilizing a combination of keeping up with Arizona in the paint and coming down with big rebounds.
Arizona then went on a 14-3 tear to end the half with a 44-31 lead. Bradley, the high octane guard scored eight of those 14 points, ending the run with a pull up jumper with 49 seconds left to play. The defense of Arizona, that has been electric the past few games did not allow for BYU to make a basket in the final minute.
Goodness gracious. pic.twitter.com/92kXDPhdgi
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 27, 2026
By the end of the half, Burries led the team in points with 19 and Bradley was a clsoe second with 17. Motiejus Krivas led in rebounds with five. The Cougars a one rebound advantage over the Wildcats, 21-20. Arizona forced BYU to turn the ball over nine times and scored 13 points off of those.
Second half
The Wildcats struggled to contain the Cougars in the beginning of the second half, allowing them to go on an 8-2 run to shorten the lead 46-39 with 18 minutes left to play. Burries broke that scoring run with a silencing 3-point shot to make it a 49-39 game. After that shot, the Wildcats went on a 6-2 run, making it a 55-41 game and pulling its lead up to 14 points.
This guy pic.twitter.com/Em19556LPu
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 27, 2026
The Wildcats eventually took full command of the game by going up by 19 points, nearly draining the life out of the home crowd with a 64-45 score and just under 11 minutes left. However, there was no quit in the scrappy Cougars.
With two minutes remaining, BYU fought its way back to a single digit deficit with a 78-71 score following Richie Saunders' 3-point shot. Arizona got back to an 11 point lead with an 82-71 score and just over a minute to play after Bradley's two made free throw shots.
The Cougars then gave Arizona one of its biggest scares of its season, pulling to an 84-83 deficit with 12 seconds left. BYU inbounded the ball and attacked the rim, but Burries came up huge on defense, blocking the shot and making both his free throws to make it 86-83 with three seconds left, escaping with the victory.
Koa!!! pic.twitter.com/xASTK1nSUf
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 27, 2026
Tell us your thoughts on Arizona's win/loss by commenting on our Facebook page. Also, be sure to give @NateMartTSports a follow on X for updates on all things Arizona Wildcats.
Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.