BYU basketball: Cougars stun No. 19 Arizona 96-95

BYU guard Egor Demin, right, shields the ball from Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in Tucson, Ariz.

For the first time in 37 years, BYU basketball has captured consecutive ranked victories.

A pair of free throws from Richie Saunders in the contest’s final seconds lifted the Cougars past No. 19 Arizona Saturday night in Tucson, earning yet another signature win in a 96-95 stunner.

BYU has now won four straight games and is 19-8 on the season and 10-6 in Big 12 play.

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3 takeaways

BYU won a true slugfest. Prior to Saturday, Arizona was 43-1 under Tommy Lloyd when it scored 90 points in a game.

After facing the Cougars again, that record is now 43-2.

BYU shot 55.4% from the field and 45.2% from 3-point range, with five different players reaching double digits in scoring.

Such shooting numbers are quite impressive — especially on the road— and proved to be desperately needed.

The Wildcats made 54.2% of their field goals and 45.5% of their attempts from deep, but no matter how many shots Arizona made, the Cougars seemingly refused to flinch.

In fact, BYU scored more points Saturday than any other opponent at McKale Memorial Center since the 2009-10 Cougars, who took down Arizona 99-69 behind 49 points from Jimmer Fredette. Go figure.

Along with his free throw heroics, Saunders led the scoring charge with 23 points, while Egor Demin added 13 points and eight assists.

Keba Keita, Mawot Mag and Trevin Knell all combined to score 30, and Kanon Catchings came off the bench for 14 points with four made 3-pointers.

The Cougars showed up defensively when it mattered most. Though giving up 95 points isn’t ideal, BYU’s defense proved to be incredibly opportunistic.

Arizona coughed up 14 turnovers, which led to 22 subsequent points for the Cougars. BYU also did well in limiting the Wildcats’ typically excellent fast break attack, allowing just 12 total points in transition.

In crunch time, the Cougars proved incredibly clutch, as Arizona made just one field goal in the game’s final four minutes.

BYU is peaking at the perfect time. After a second straight victory over a ranked team, the Cougars are essentially a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament in Kevin Young’s first season at the helm of the program.

Since falling to Utah in overtime just over a month ago, Young’s squad has gone 8-2 and stacked its March resumé incredibly well.

BYU has cemented itself as a prolific offensive unit that can win in a number of ways. It may not have been obvious against Arizona, but the Cougars have improved a great deal defensively and are still one of the nation’s best rebounding teams.

Fans and pundits will spend much of the coming weeks discussing what tournament seed BYU should receive, but frankly it doesn’t matter where you pencil in the Cougars on a bracket, because with how they’ve played lately, they’re capable of beating almost anyone.

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