For a second, BYU was experiencing some sick form of déjà vu at the McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona. With 19 seconds left and the chance to put the Cougars up by 3, Dallin Hall missed the front end of a one-and-one, which Caleb Love took advantage of to give Arizona a 95-94 lead with just 13 seconds left. It was an awfully familiar scene for BYU fans, who saw the Cougars miss free throws in a similar spot at Utah in January. But this time was different.
BYU still had 13 seconds to make up for it. Down by one and with the game on the line, Richie Saunders drove to the rim, put up a pump fake and pivoted around, before his floater fell short of the rim entirely. But a questionable foul was called on Arizona’s Trey Townsend with three seconds left. This time, Saunders delivered, knocking down both shots to secure BYU a dramatic win, 96-95, by far their best of the season.
A small scuffle broke out between the two teams afterwards, while the Arizona crowd certainly let out their frustrations about the final foul call. Replay shows there was a small hip check by Townsend, although the extent of the contact can be debated. What can’t be debated, though, is just how good BYU’s offense looked in one of their toughest road games of the season.
Offense, Offense, Offense
The Cougars showed tremendous resolve on the road in a building that was on their feet for most of the night. Caleb Love and the rest of the Wildcats hit plenty of shots to keep pace with BYU in an incredibly high scoring affair. There wasn’t a lot of defense to be had, as both teams shot a red hot 45% from 3, and over 54% from the field. Offensive rebounding also played a key role in this game, as Arizona collected 15 of them to score plenty of second chance points.
The first half was close throughout, although BYU opened up a little bit of a lead with a few minutes to go. But Arizona’s Carter Bryant hit a 3 just as time expired to put the score at 47-44 for a BYU halftime lead.. Arizona kept that momentum coming out in the 2nd half, taking the lead four minutes in thanks to back to back threes. The rest of the game wouldn’t see a lead larger than five points, as the teams continued to trade baskets back and forth for the rest of the game.
With the game winding down, BYU nearly escaped without any drama, but Caleb Love hit his fourth 3 of the night to cut the BYU lead to one, 94-93, with 33 seconds left. That’s when the free throws came in, and BYU was finally able to knock down some clutch free throws this season thanks to Richie Saunders, who has unquestionably risen to become BYU’s best player and biggest leader this season.
BYU Takeaways: Saunders, Catchings, and Rebounding Struggles
Saunders was terrific all night, scoring 23 points on a hyper-efficient 8-10 shooting, including three 3s. His reverse layup to give BYU a four point lead in the final minutes was equally impressive as it was important.
Another bright spot for BYU was the performance of Kanon Catchings. The freshman has had to battle through inconsistent playing time in recent months, but he stayed ready coming off the bench in this one, knocking down four 3s on his way to 14 points. Catchings certainly could be the X-factor for BYU in making a deep tournament run. Saunders will show up in March. Egor Demin will have an impact no doubt. But Catchings, especially with some improved defense, could be BYU’s missing piece.
And speaking of Demin, he was able to take advantage of Arizona’s drop coverage all game, hitting mid range shots and driving to the rim for a layup or lob. He finished with 13 ponts and 8 assists, but also committed six turnovers in the process, something BYU has been trying to cut down in recent weeks.
But it was far from just those three who contributed offensively, as it takes a whole team to score 96 points. Mawot Mag and Keba Keita also scored in double figures, while Trevin Knell, Dawson Baker, and Trey Stewart all hit very timely 3s.
The win now gives BYU even more momentum than they already had as March quickly approaches. Including their win over Kansas on Tuesday, this is the first time since 1988 that the Cougars have beaten ranked opponents in back-to-back games. And with one of the wins being on the road and the other being by 34 points, it’s safe to say this is one of the best two game stretches in BYU history.
But there is still plenty to work on for Kevin Young and his team. Offensive rebounds came far too easily for Arizona. Stops were hard to come by for both teams in this game, which made it all the more necessary to grab rebounds when you did force an Arizona miss. And defensively, BYU had a tough time guarding the ball without fouling in a tightly officiated contest.
But this win is proof that BYU may be peaking at the right time. The Cougars have moved off the bubble and are comfortably in the tournament field. They’ll face Arizona State and West Virginia next week, and then they’ll close the season with a huge road game at Iowa State and the season finale Holy War in Provo the following game. The Cougs currently look close to unstoppable. Can they keep the momentum going?