No. 20 Arizona too much for once hot byu in 85-74 romp in Provo-Deset News

Sometimes the other team is better and plays better.

In short, that was what happened to strip Byu late Tuesday night at the Marriott Center when No. 20 Arizona released and outclassed Cougars to take an 85-74 victory in front of 17,274 fans.

Cougars were taken out of the game by Wildcats’ superior execution as the decisive BIG 12 competition was there to take, so byus four-game-winning line was snapped and its chance of picking up a crucial quad 1 victory sniffed by one Quick improvement of the Arizona team tied to the BIG 12 lead.

Wildcats (16-6, 10-1) should be the best six-loss team in the country.

“They are a good team. They beat us, ”said Byu coach Kevin Young. “… We go ahead and try to win the next game that has been our attitude all year. It has actually been fun to help these guys pick themselves up when we fall short. “

The loss will not hurt Cougars’ NCAA chances, but a victory would probably have moved them safely from the bubble.

In the first half, Byu (15-7, 6-5) played as a team that deserved to go in dance when the scoring was tied 41-41 during the break, and Cougars’ violation was free-flowing and came out into the transition, and that Get light buckets.

Cougars made seven 3s in the first half.

But with approx. 10 minutes left in the game, all dried for the homemaker, and Arizona continued to play to get tied up on the league with Houston.

“These guys, they crushed it. They play so much better now than I coach, it’s not even close, ”said Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd. “This is how you know you have a good team.”

Offensively, Arizona simply had too many weapons for Byu to handle and too much size. Wildcats won the rebounding battle 45-30, a state of young trifle, but acknowledged that Cougars were kept away from the offensive glass.

The reality was that Cougars were out of this by a team that was obviously more used to tight, physical, bowel -busting finish, whether at home or in front of a bully, high crowd in Provo.

Government of Big 12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, Odds-On Favorite to win Big 12 POY HEALS, scored a team high 18 points on 6 of 16 shoots.

Cougars would have taken it. What they couldn’t afford was to have guard Jaden Bradley score all 17 of his points in the second half and take the game down the stretch.

He was 8 out of 8 from the free-casting line, matching Byu’s in everything from the strip.

“Jaden is becoming the complete point guard,” Lloyd said. “He understands winning.”

The game of the game was made by Love, which hit a 3-Pointer with 10:35 left after a cannon catching 3-pointer had given Byu a 61-60 lead.

The audience roared at the time, but Lloyd did not take a timeout. He let his players dampen the crowd.

“For me, what is more powerful than a timeout is an answer,” said Lloyd, who opened his comments after play by praising Byu audience, which he has coached against since his days in Gonzaga as a 20-year-old assistant there .

“You always cherish the opportunity to play in a place like this,” Lloyd said. “Fortunately, I’ve been to Gonzaga and Arizona. You come here, the games matter and the fans have always been amazing and it has always been something we look forward to. “

Byu never regained the lead after Love’s fourth 3-Pointer in a game containing 11 lead changes, but Cougars were apparently OK after Dallin Halls 3-Pointer and running Layup got them within a point, 67-66, with 7:46 left.

But Cougars went the next 7:46 with only two field goals, and both were made at the last minute (by Richie Saunders) and the last second, a 3-pointer of Egor Demin.

“I thought the difference in the game was about the six -minute brand. They scored three out of four times. We went to a change scheme and they hurt us with offensive rebounds, ”Young said.

“… We were right there. That part of the game was really the difference. They are a good club. They got good players. They are talented. Tommy is obviously a very experienced coach, doing a good job. Give them credit they played well. “

So did Byu – until it really matters. Byu was 3 of 16 from deep in the second half. Layups and 3-Pointers that were there in the first 30 minutes went away.

Young said Cougars was forced to “take the ball out of the net” too many times when Bradley hit a huge 3-pointer with 6:31 back, who qualified as the second largest brand of the game for visitors.

“As we are a team that thrives on transition, thrives in tempo. They shot 14 free throw in the second half, made 13 of them. It brakes the game, ”Young said. “That was not the case in the first half. That was the difference in the game. “

The first half was full of well -played basketball at high level, although none of the team shot the ball especially well. It contained eight bands and eight lead changes, with Byu overcoming an early 20-12 deficit.

Tobe Awaka led Arizona with 12 first half points on 5 of 6 shoots, while love was mostly kept in check until half.

Mawot Mag gave Byu an early lift with eight first half points; Eight Cougars scored in the first 20 minutes and Byu turned it over just four times before the break.

Demin had a solid first half for Cougars with seven points, two rebounds and two assists. However, he had two revenue and missed three straight free kicks, a free kick that would have given the Cougars the lead at the break.

“We have to make a free kick. We walked 8 of 14 in a tight game, ”said Young. “We have to step up and hit the free kick. If you are going to shoot 9 3s, you cannot walk 0 of 3 from the free throwing line (as demin did).

“Some guys have to step up and make gimmes.”