3 takeaways from BYU’s dramatic loss to No. 1 Arizona

Heartbreak at the Marriott Center.

BYU couldn’t complete a wild comeback effort Monday night, falling 86-83 to No. 1 Arizona.

The Cougars, who suffered their first loss in Provo since February of 2025, are now 17-3 on the season and 5-2 in Big 12 play.

3 takeaways

BYU’s late comeback attempt came up short. Similar to November’s loss to UConn, the Cougars struggled for the majority of the game before capturing some magic down the stretch.

BYU trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half and by 10 points in the final minute, but Kevin Young’s crew put together a 11-2 run across 40 seconds to cut the deficit to just a single point.

With 12 seconds remaining, the Cougars came out of a timeout with a chance to win the game, but Rob Wright III’s layup attempt was blocked — though some might argue he was fouled there — as the Wildcats escaped with the victory.

Had Wright’s layup found the hole, BYU would have earned its first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team at the Marriott Center and ended Arizona’s unbeaten run.

But such a Hollywood ending eluded the Cougars, who now have two 1-possession losses out of their three total setbacks on the year.

Brayden Burries and Jaden Bradley feasted against BYU. Entering Monday, many fans had their eyes set on the matchup between star freshmen Dybantsa and Koa Peat.

Instead, Arizona’s other stud freshman and his backcourt counterpart stole the show.

Burries and Bradley combined for 55 points, with 36 coming before halftime. The pair shot a collective 60.7% from the field, hit four 3-pointers, dished out seven assists and grabbed eight rebounds.

Conversely, Dybantsa and Wright combined to shoot 9 of 40 from the field and 2 for 13 from long distance.

Burries’ most important contribution of the night wasn’t on the offensive end, but rather came in the form of the game-winning block of Wright.

In all, Arizona shot 52.8% from the field and averaged 1.2 points per possession, though BYU held the Wildcats without a made field goal over the final three minutes to help orchestrate the late rally.

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BYU’s offense responded well in the second half — an encouraging sign considering the elite Arizona defense. In the first five minutes of play, the Cougars scored 15 points, with the night appearing as if it may turn into a shootout.

But Arizona’s Big 12-best defense quickly flipped the script, holding BYU to just 16 points in the first half’s final 15 minutes.

After halftime, however, the Cougars adjusted well and found better results in the form of 52 points, even when Dybantsa shot just 2 of 13 from the field in the period.

BYU in the first half: 33.3% shooting from the field, 21.4% shooting from 3-point range, nine turnovers, zero points from turnovers, 0.84 points per possession.

BYU in the second half: 46.2% shooting from the field, 50% shooting from 3-point range, three turnovers, 13 points from turnovers. 1.41 points per possession.

Kennard Davis Jr. broke out of his recent slump in a major way, hitting five triples and scoring 17 total points without missing a shot in the second half to lead the Cougar comeback charge.

Richie Saunders added 11 points and two made threes in the latter frame as well before ultimately fouling out.

The lone offensive weakness for the Cougars in the second half was free throws — they missed six of them, which is haunting in a 3-point loss.

In conclusion: Arizona is an obvious buzzsaw. There isn’t a better team in the country.

BYU has plenty to fix and improve in order to be the legitimate Final Four and national championship contender it hopes to be, because the Cougars just aren’t there right now.

For the majority of the night, the gap between the Wildcats and BYU, both execution-wise and physically, was quite large.

But the Cougars, as they have so many times already this year, refused to surrender despite the dire circumstances, nearly stealing an all-time win in the process.

That fight means something. Young and his staff can work with that to climb somewhere higher.