Sometimes heroes don’t always wear capes.
In the case of top-ranked University of Arizona, they wear basketball jerseys who are worn by play-making, game-saving guards.
Arizona doesn’t defeat host Brigham Young University, 86-83, without guards Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley, Monday night’s one-two punch from UA’s two shortest players, yet one of college basketball’s best backcourts.
Burries scored a game-high/career-high 29 points and Bradley added 26 in what was at one point a 19-point lead that went to a one-point lead with just a handful of seconds left. BYU even had a chance to go ahead – or win – when BYU guard Robert Wright had the ball near the basket before high-flying Burries leaped and swatted the shot away.
The game was all but over – he added two free throws for the difference.
“It felt great,” Burries told ESPN after the game. “My teammates had my back this whole year, honestly, and that was the least I could do … is help my teammates, help my brother and block the shot, get the rebound and finish with it.”
And boy did he finish it, helping UA tie its best start in school history with 21 consecutive wins to start a season. It went from this close to thisclose from almost not happening.
“We had a lot of late-game situations there that probably weren’t great … and we can get better at them,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said in his post-game radio interview.
Lloyd said he’d have to watch the tape to see what happened with fouls if there were fouls.
“Or anything like that,” he said.
Whatever it was – and there will be plenty to review – BYU made a furious rally in the final 11 minutes, which included 10 3-pointers in the second half to give the Cougars a chance. Arizona hadn’t been in a one possession game at the end since, um, last year’s game against BYU, which was a win for the Cougars.
“We’ve been talking about games (where) there’s going to be some games where we have to get one stop,” Lloyd said in his press conference in Provo, Utah. “We haven’t been in a lot of them so it was great to experience that and to have it come out that way.”
As for the defense?
“You gotta do a better job guarding the 3,” Lloyd said, speaking of all the makes BYU had in the second half. “They were trying to crawl back into the game, and it worked.”
But back to Burries, who has been short of spectacular in the last 10 or so games. He went 7 for 13 from the floor in getting his career high. He added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. He went 13 for 14 from the free throw line.
“Brayden is a winner,” Lloyd said. “He looked great. For long stretches, you know, he was the best player on the floor. He played great and I’m really happy for him because we need that. We knew his upside would be really important for the stretch run of our season.”
That stretch starts now or maybe soon. Arizona faces Arizona State on Saturday and Oklahoma State a week later before Arizona’s gauntlet starts with Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU and Houston.
Until then, Arizona will savor the victory from Monday.
“Feels awesome,” Lloyd said.
