No. 1 Arizona fends off furious rally from AJ Dybantsa, No. 13 BYU to remain undefeated

In a matchup Monday featuring the nation’s No. 1 team and arguably the nation’s No. 1 player, the No. 1 team prevailed — barely.

No. 1 Arizona opened up a 44-31 halftime lead over No. 13 BYU and freshman phenom AJ Dybantsa, then survived a furious second-half BYU rally that was fueled late by a flagrant foul on Brayden Burries that allowed BYU to cut a 19-point second-half deficit to 83-79.

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The Cougars then had the ball and the chance to take the lead in the final seconds. But Burries redeemed himself with a late block of a Robert Wright shot at the basket and two free throws on the other end to ice the 86-83 Arizona win.

With the win, Arizona improved to 21-0 to maintain its place as one of three undefeated teams remaining in the top 25. No. 5 Nebraska and No. 24 Miami (Ohio) are the others. The win was the sixth for the Wildcats over a ranked team following previous wins over then-No. 3 Florida, No. 15 UCLA, No. 3 UConn, No. 20 Auburn and No. 12 Alabama.

Burries shines as Arizona defense flusters Dybantsa

While Dybantsa was a one-man show for BYU for much of the game, Burries was the best freshman and the best player on the court — for Monday night, at least. Burries paced Arizona to its double-digit halftime lead with 19 points at the break. He finished with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals — and the single block at the end to secure the win.

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Senior guard joined Burries with 26 points on a 10 of 15 shooting night from the floor.

Brayden Burries, right, outplayed BYU’s freshman phenom and potential No. 1 NBA Draft pick AJ Dybantsa Monday night.

(Chris Gardner via Getty Images)

Dybantsa, meanwhile, struggled against a elite Arizona defense led by 6-foot-7 wing Ivan Kharchenkov. Dybantsa led the Cougars with 24 points points alongside 4 rebounds and 5 assists. But he had to work to get there on a 6-of-24 shooting night from the floor while shooting 1 of 8 from 3.

And he was the only BYU player to repeatedly attack Arizona’s defense….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/breaking-news/article/no-1-arizona-fends-off-furious-rally-from-aj-dybantsa-no-13-byu-to-remain-undefeated-043550618.html

Author : Jason Owens

Publish date : 2026-01-27 04:35:00

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