Following back-to-back quad one wins, BYU basketball faces another challenge as they welcome the 20th-ranked Arizona Wildcats to the Marriott Center. Both teams started the season slowly, but have since drastically shifted gears, with BYU finishing ahead in their last four matchups while U of A has won 9 of their 10 conference clashes.
Egor Demin is beginning to find a flow to this point in the season. The freshman guard is well-known for threading passes through the defense to find open teammates, but his scoring chops have been heavily criticized to this point in the year, only scoring in double figures four times since Thanksgiving. On the bright side, two of those four surges came in the last three games, while remaining a top-25 assist man nationally.
BYU's success under Kevin Young hasn't come exclusively behind Egor's excellence, of course. Richie Saunders is an All-Big 12 candidate, Kanon Catchings may steal some draft positions if he can replicate his performance (or any semblance of that) against Baylor, and even Mawot Mag, the defensive specialist from Rutgers, has come alive in recent weeks, earning player of the game honors from Cougar Nation.
Who is the player of the game in BYU's victory over UCF?#BYUHoops #GoCougs
— Lawless Republic (@LawlessRepublic) February 2, 2025
But against a red-hot Arizona team, BYU has heaps of work ahead.
BYU vs Arizona basketball preview
Arizona sits with a 15-6 record, with 5 of their losses coming in the early stages of the season. If BYU had lost 5 in the non-conference, the panic alarms would be perpetually sounding on the Provo campus, but the Wildcats' shortcomings arrived at the hands of some of the best in the game.
Losses to Wisconsin, Duke, UCLA, and West Virginia are nothing to be ashamed of, but they all came too soon for these Wildcats, who have only just arrived back in the top 25 for the first time in months.
Led by former Tar Heel, Caleb Love, the Wildcats got early revenge on West Virginia before turning their rage on the likes of Baylor and Iowa State, having only lost to Texas Tech since beginning Big 12 play.
A high-powered offense that is top 30 nationally in points and assists per game, the 'Cats can also burn you on the boards, as they secure a 27th-best 40 rebounds per night. BYU, another strong rebounding team, will need to gain an advantage on that end.
Two teams facing off will each look to fill it up on offense, and as has become customary in recent Big 12 results, the first to score 80 points will likely be the winner in this one. BYU, still on the bubble, can make a major statement with a win over Arizona tonight.