This preview and prediction is primarily aimed at BYU fans who wrote off the remainder of BYU's basketball season as they watched Richie Saunders writhing on the court with a torn ACL in the Cougars' last game. While Richie was the heartbeat and the soul of the 2025-26 BYU Cougars, this is a team that can still win big games.
The No. 22 Cougars will have a chance to prove just that as they travel to Tucson to face the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats on Wednesday night.
Setting realistic expectations for this game
The reality is this would have been a tough matchup for the Cougars even with a healthy Richie Saunders. When Arizona is firing on all cylinders they are incredibly tough to beat as witnessed by their 23-2 record.
But they are beatable. In fact, the Wildcats have lost their last two games. Sure, those back-to-back defeats came on the road at No. No. 9 Kansas (a four-point loss) and at home versus No. 16 Texas Tech (a three-point loss), but Arizona is beatable.
BYU nearly vanquished the Wildcats in the Marriott Center about three weeks ago, rallying back from a 13-point halftime deficit to lose 86-83.
Realistically, Arizona is a heavy favorite, and deservedly so. They're elite. They're hungry. They're mad after dropping two straight games. They're at home. They have have one of the deepest, most balanced teams in the country with six players averaging somewhere between 9.7 and 15.7 points per game.
They are led by two outstanding freshmen in Brayden Burries (15.7 PPG) and Koa Peat (13.8 PPG), though Peat has just been declared out for this contest with a lower-body injury. Guard Jaden Bradley scores over 13 points per game and hits 40% of this 3s. They control the glass with forward Tobe Awaka averaging 9.7 rebounds per game and center Motiejus Krivas averaging 8.7.
Realistically, this is going to be a tough game for BYU, but there are still reasons for hope.
Reasons to be optimistic heading to Tucson
While BYU's Big Three of AJ Dybantsa, Robert Wright III, and Richie Saunders is now down to a Big Two, those two players are still special.
Freshman sensation AJ Dybantsa leads the country in scoring, dropping what feels like an effortless 24.4 points per game. If any player can up his game, manufacture more shots, and somehow elevate his offense from here, it's Dybantsa. Throughout his life he has been accustomed to carrying his teams on his broad shoulders. Without Richie Saunders, he knows he's going to have to score more. And he can.
Secondly, Robert Wright III is currently playing the best basketball of his life. Over his last two games against Baylor and Colorado, both BYU victories, he has scored 69 points on 24-of 37 shooting (64.8%) and 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the 3-point line. He's currently shooting 46.1% from deep on the season. It feels like in Saunders' absence that Robert Wright III still has another offensive gear he can find for the Cougars offense.
If the dynamic combination of Dybantsa and Wright can score an effective 60-plus points against the Wildcats, BYU has a chance.
The question remains, though, if the Cougars can bolster what has become a very shaky defense while simultaneously finding at least 25 points from players other than Dybantsa and Wright. That could happen, but it's going to take a legendary team effort to pull off the upset in Tucson.
In light of all of this, here's my prediction which is more realistic than optimistic:
Arizona 92, BYU 76