TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona hasn’t really been known for its 3-point attack this season.
But Wednesday against BYU, the Wildcats let it fly.
Arizona hit 9 of 21 (43%) of its triples in a 75-68 win over the Cougars at McKale Center, scoring more points from behind the arc (27) than in the paint (26) for the first time all season.
“We just found a way to win that might not be the normal way we play,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said postgame. “… It didn’t always feel right and feel normal, but for long stretches of game, it was really effective, so to me that’s a positive. As we continue to build over the course of the season, finding multiple ways to win games is a great attribute for a team.”
Lloyd’s group was shorthanded coming into the rematch with BYU, having just six available rotation players and being without standout freshman forward Koa Peat.
It wouldn’t matter, as Anthony Dell’Orso played hero by scoring 22 points off the bench in the winning effort.
“Gritty win by our guys,” Lloyd said. “We knew it was going to be tough. Obviously, we’re going through injuries right now, and it’s just that point of the season where sometimes you hit a little struggle. If you don’t embrace it, you’re not built for it. Our guys have done a good job embracing it, and I thought there was good wherewithal and just finding a way today.”
BYU freshman star AJ Dybantsa was excellent despite the loss, scoring 35 points on 13 of 28 shooting against the Wildcats.
“Our intent wasn’t to give him easy baskets, we probably could have done a better job deeper in some of his penetration and just having a body between him and the basket,” Lloyd said of how his team defended Dybantsa. “We wanted him to make a lot of shots, force him to make shots over bodies, and he made a lot of tonight.”
With the win, Arizona breaks its 2-game losing streak and now looks ahead to a massive road matchup with No. 2 Houston this weekend.
“They do what they do and they do it really, really, really well, and it’s impressive. So we have an incredible challenge on Saturday, but these are the games we want to play in,” Lloyd said. “I don’t care who shows up, we’re just gonna have five guys put on our uniform and we got to go to battle. We got to go to battle and we got to make it a ball game in their building and see if we can figure out a way to win a game like that at the end.”
