TUCSON, Ariz. — Anthony Dell’Orso notched a season-best 22 points off the bench, while Ivan Kharchenkov added 18, helping No. 4 Arizona recover from its initial two losses of the season by defeating No. 23 BYU 75-68 on Wednesday evening.
Arizona (24-2, 11-2 Big 12) started strong with 23 consecutive wins and held the top spot in the nation for nine weeks before succumbing to No. 9 Kansas and No. 16 Texas Tech in back-to-back games.
Dell’Orso, a 6-foot-6 Australian player, played a crucial role in the Wildcats’ return to victory, shooting 8-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Arizona was without starting forward Koa Peat and backup guard Dwayne Aristode for this game.
The university reported that Peat will also miss Saturday’s match against No. 2 Houston due to a muscle strain in his lower leg, with a reevaluation set for next week.
Aristode is out for his second consecutive game due to illness.
“It was a gritty win for our team,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd stated. “We expected it to be challenging. Clearly, we’re facing injury issues right now. It’s one of those points in the season where you can hit a rough patch, and if you don’t embrace it, you might not be prepared for it. Our players have done an excellent job of accepting it.”
Leading BYU (19-7, 7-6) was freshman standout AJ Dybantsa, who scored 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting. The 6-foot-9 forward has surpassed 30 points in a game six times this season.
The Cougars were competing in their first game without starting guard Richie Saunders, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in a 90-86 overtime win against Colorado on Saturday.
Arizona maintained the lead throughout the second half, gradually pulling ahead and establishing a 66-50 advantage on Dell’Orso’s 3-pointer with 6:40 remaining. BYU narrowed the gap to 73-68 with 1:05 left but was unable to come any closer.
“I anticipated it wouldn’t be beautiful at every moment,” Lloyd commented. “yet, we managed to control the game in that second half — I just wish we could’ve finished a bit stronger, but that’s a common theme in college basketball.
“Overcoming a player like AJ, who tallied 35 points easily, and coming out victorious was a tremendous effort from our team.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
