Arizona Basketball

Arizona improves to 10-1 in first season in Big 12 with convincing victory at BYU



Jaden Bradley was a catalyst in the second half for Arizona in its win over BYU (Arizona Athletics photo)

Arizona keeps rolling in its first year in the Big 12, winning five straight games and remaining in a first-place tie with Houston with nine games left in the regular season.

The 20th-ranked Wildcats’ 85-74 victory at BYU on Tuesday night improves their record to 16-6 overall and 10-1 in the Big 12.

Tommy Lloyd’s team is 5-1 on the road in the conference.

BYU (15-7, 6-5) had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Jaden Bradley’s 17 points in the second half and Henri Veesaar’s 17 points overall were significant in addition to Caleb Love’s 18 points that included a 4-of-9 performance from beyond the arc.

“That’s what that kid does; he’s been doing it for years,” BYU coach Kevin Young said of Love in the postgame press conference.

“It’s a big-boy game. You’ve got to come down and make the next play. … That’s something our group has to understand. That’s a club (Arizona) that’s been good for a long time. They know what it takes.”

Bradley missed the two shots he attempted in the first half and finished 4 of 6 with an 8-of-8 performance at the free-throw line in the second half. Bradley handled the ball the most as the point guard and had only one turnover in 36 minutes in a hostile environment at the Marriott Center at Provo, Utah.

“Jaden’s becoming the consummate point guard. He understands winning,” Lloyd said in the postgame press conference.

Love eclipsed 1,000 career points at Arizona, becoming the sixth player in program history to achieve the feat in the first two years of his career with the Wildcats.

Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors are in Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz at Delta Center on Wednesday night.

Kerr took the trip to nearby Provo to watch his alma mater play, joining a reported 10 NBA scouts in attendance.

BYU cut Arizona’s lead to 67-66 with 7:47 left after Dallin Hall made a layup and 3-pointer.

Lloyd allowed his team to play through without calling a timeout.

Arizona went on a 9-0 run to take a 76-66 lead with 4:42 left. Bradley had seven of those points, including his only 3-pointer in the game.

“More powerful than a timeout is a response,” Lloyd said.

Arizona’s defense also intensified, limiting BYU without a made field goal from 7:47 left to 47 seconds remaining.

The Cougars missed nine straight shots in that span, allowing Arizona to pull away to as much as a 15-point lead.

Tobe Awaka finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while KJ Lewis had seven points, five rebounds and five assists.

BYU attempted 34 shots from 3-point range and made only 10 (29.4 percent).

Arizona also outrebounded BYU 45-30, which led to the Wildcats’ 42 points in the paint.

The Wildcats shot well — 49.2 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from 3-point range (8 of 21) and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line.

They made 13 of 14 shots from the free-throw line in the second half behind Bradley’s 8-of-8 performance.

“We’re a team that thrives in transition,” Young said. “They shot 14 free throws down the stretch. That slows the pace down. I thought that was the difference in the game.”

It was the first time Arizona and BYU played a conference game at Provo since the 1977-78 season when they were in the WAC.

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