Caleb Love had 18 points and Jaden Bradley scored all 17 of his points in the second half to help No. 20 Arizona defeat BYU 85-74 on Tuesday night in Provo, Utah.
Bradley took over the game during a pivotal stretch of the second half, scoring 11 of his team’s 13 points to turn a one-point lead into a double-digit advantage as the Wildcats (16-6, 10-1 Big 12) won their fifth straight game.
Henri Veesaar added 17 points and six rebounds, while Tobe Awaka contributed 14 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Egor Demin scored 16 points but made only 7 of 20 shots from the field in the setback for the Cougars (15-7, 6-5), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
The Cougars shot 41.8 percent from the field compared to Arizona’s 49.2 percent clip and went cold down the stretch. BYU missed nine straight shot attempts at one point, a rut that began during the key second-half stretch that the Wildcats put together, as the visitors blew open a tight game.
Dallin Hall totaled 11 points and six assists and Richie Saunders had 11 points and six rebounds as BYU fell for only the second time in 13 home games.
Hall made a layup to get BYU within one point, 67-66, with 7:47 left.
The Wildcats then went to work, and Bradley scored seven points during a 9-0 spurt that helped them take their biggest lead of the game at the time, 76-66, with 4:42 left.
Bradley continued his offensive surge by hitting four straight free throws after a pair of Saunders freebies to put Arizona ahead by 12 with 4:02 left.
The Wildcats cruised to an 84-69 lead after a Carter Bryant dunk, limiting BYU to three points in a seven-plus-minute stretch.
The Cougars had led by four points earlier in the second half before falling apart.
In the first half, Veesaar ignited a 10-0 run for Arizona with a tip shot as the Wildcats went up 18-10. The Cougars later responded with an 11-2 run to take a one-point lead.
The teams went into the break tied at 41-41.
–Field Level Media
