At least six times this season Tommy Lloyd has been asked Anthony del Oso If he’s worried about the senior’s offensive struggles. Each time Lloyd said he wasn’t and that Delly’s time would eventually come.
It happened Wednesday night when Arizona needed someone to step up to deal with a huge loss to the lineup.
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Dell’Oso scored 22 points, his most in two seasons in Tucson, to lead the fourth-ranked Wildcats to a 75-68 victory over No. 23 BYU at the McKale Center at Alkeme Arena. The win snapped a two-game skid and moved Arizona (24-2, 11-2) into a tie with Houston for first place in the Big 12 ahead of Saturday’s showdown.
Ivan Khachenkov There are 18, Jaden Bradley Scored 12 points and 10 assists, tying a career high. Braden Burris Arizona shot 45.3% from the field and 9 of 21 three-pointers. Dell’Oso made 4 of 8 shots from the outside, Burris made 3 of 7 shots, and Khachenkov made 2 of 5 shots. For the first time this season, the Wildcats scored more points from the outside than in the paint (26 points).
In the 2025-26 season, UA was also surpassed in scoring in the paint for the first time.
BYU (19-7, 7-6) scores 35 points from freshmen AJ Dibansabut he needed 28 shots, but only hit 13 times. Robert Wright He scored 69 points and 13 in the Cougars’ first two games.
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The Cougars shot 43.1 percent from the field and 5 of 19 from 3-point range in their first game without the team. Rich Sandershe tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was ended for the season.
Arizona is down two rotation players, Acacia Peat Out due to leg strain Dwayne Aristotle Missed the second game due to illness. Tobe Awaka Pitt started, but only scored 3 points and 6 rebounds in 32 minutes. He and Motaeus Crevas 3 out of 10 on the field.
The most productive big man in UA is a freshman Sidi Gueyehe had 4 points and 4 rebounds in a season-high 10 minutes. Gay had played just 15 minutes in Big 12 play entering the night.
senior security guard Evan Nelson While Bradley did play 38 minutes, he also played some minutes in the first half to help Arizona’s backcourt.
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At halftime, UA led 42-35. Gay scored 10 consecutive points, the first an alley-oop from Bradley and the second a kickback, forcing BYU to declare a timeout at 53-43 with 13 minutes and 39 seconds left in the game.
With 9 minutes and 51 seconds left in the game, Bradley made a long 2-pointer to chase the score to 63-48. Arizona went scoreless for more than three minutes and BYU managed just one field goal, with Dell’Oso hitting his fourth 3-pointer to take a 66-50 lead.
DiBanza had previously scored 12 consecutive points for the Cougars. Keba Keita The jumper with 5:08 left was part of BYU’s 8-0 run that made it 69-61 with 3:19 left. Bradley hit two free throws and Khachenkov dunked off a steal from DiBanza to push the lead back to 12 points with 2:30 left, but BYU struck again when Arizona failed to get inbounds and beat the press.
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A 7-0 run pushed the score to 73-68 with 1:05 left, the Cougars’ closest score since the first half, and they had a chance to make it one after Keita blocked Burris at the basket. But with 30.3 seconds left, Crivas stole Wright and capped the game with Dell Oso’s dunk at the other end.
BYU led by four points, Arizona scored eight points in a row, and with 10:21 left in the first half, Crevas dunked back to give the team an 18-14 lead. Wright hit the Cougars’ first three points to tie the game at 21 with 8:07 left in the half.
Khachenkov and Burris hit consecutive three-pointers to give the Wildcats a five-point lead, then Dell’Oso hit a three-pointer and Bradley scored on an Avaca steal to make it 39-33 UA with 42 seconds left before halftime.
At halftime, Dell’Oso hit a corner three-pointer from the baseline that gave Arizona a seven-point lead with 0.8 seconds left.
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Arizona faces its fourth straight ranked opponent on Saturday, ending its Big 12 challenge on the road at No. 2 Houston (23-3, 11-2). Including appearances in the 2022 Sweet 16 and last year’s Big 12 Tournament final, the Wildcats are 0-3 against the Cougars under Lloyd.
