No. 4 University of Arizona men’s basketball team (24-2, 11-2 in Big 12) snapped their two-game losing streak on Wednesday, Feb. 18 against No. 23 BYU (19-7, 7-6 in Big 12) 75-68 in McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. The Wildcats managed to get it done despite missing both Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode due to injuries. 

Key players

The leading scorer for Arizona was senior guard Anthony Dell’Orso who ended the night with a season high 22 points on 8-15 shooting as well as four rebounds. He had a great night from the 3-point line, going 4-for-8 on threes and making things easier to stretch the floor overall.

Freshman forward Ivan Kharchenkov was also crucial to the Wildcat victory. He collected 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and two assists. Kharchenkov had a great night on the glass which helped make up for the fact that Peat was unable to play.

For BYU, their leading scorer was freshman AJ Dybantsa who led all scorers in points with 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting. He also managed to collect two assists and seven rebounds. Dybantsa was simply unstoppable, hitting shots from anywhere inside the perimeter as well as getting to the free-throw line, shooting 7-of-8 from there. Dybantsa helped do anything and everything in his power to keep BYU in the game.

Game recap

The first half saw the Wildcats take a 7 point lead at the end as a result of Dell’Orso’s buzzer-beater to make the lead 42-35. Before that, the Wildcats didn’t have a lead bigger than 4 as BYU kept themselves in it and managed a way to hang around with the Wildcats.

In the second half, it stayed close for the first seven minutes until the Wildcats pulled away and got the largest lead of the night with 12 points. Their lead eventually stretched to 16 points with seven minutes left to go. While BYU tried their best to cut the lead, the effort just wasn’t enough as they fell to the Wildcats for the second time this season 75-68. 

Despite missing two key players, Arizona responded with toughness and depth with big performances from Dell’Orso and Kharchenkov that allowed them to hold off BYU. The win snaps the skid and keeps the Wildcats firmly in the Big 12 race.

Looking forward

Arizona will go back on the road to take on No. 2 University of Houston this Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. MST. This game will be crucial for the upcoming Big 12 Tournament. The game will be available on ABC for Arizona fans to support while the Wildcats are on the road.

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