Arizona hosts BYU to get back into winning fashion and regain home-court advantage. Read more for a full Arizona vs BYU Prediction and Preview.
No. 19 Arizona basketball (18-8, 12-3 Big 12) hosts the BYU Cougars (18-8, 9-6 Big 12) on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. MST (10 p.m. EST) in McKale Center. Arizona played BYU earlier this season during its six-game winning streak, with the Wildcats winning 85-74 in Salt Lake City.
Arizona returns home to McKale Center after losing its last home game against then-No. 6 Houston 62-58. While BYU rides in on a three-game winning streak, that included a massive upset over No. 23 Kansas.
General Information
Teams: Arizona (18-8, 12-3 Big 12) and BYU (18-8, 9-6 Big 12)
Tip time: 8 p.m. MST (10 p.m. EST)
Watch: ESPN
Latest on BYU basketball:
To open conference play, the Cougars would go 2-4, winning against Arizona State and Oklahoma State. The Cougars would find their footing and would coast to four straight victories before ultimately losing to Arizona in early February. After losing at home to Arizona, BYU would travel to Cincinnati. The Bearcats would put down the Cougars for their second straight loss. However, since this down spell, BYU has been drumming with three straight wins against tough conference opponents. Their most dominant victory and first-ranked win of the year came in a 34-point victory over No. 23 Kansas.
Players such as Richie Saunders, Trevin Knell, and Keba Keita highlighted the blowout over the Jayhawks. Saunders would finish the night with 22 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor and 4-8 from behind the arc. Saunders has been crucial for the Cougars, as he leads the lead with 15.2 points and has dropped team-leading figures twice in the team’s three-game streak. Don’t be surprised if he grabs crucial boards for the team as against Kansas State on Feb. 15, Saunders would grab a team-leading 14 boards. Against Arizona, Saunders was restricted as he scored 11 points on 3-8 shooting with 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 turnovers.
Knell’s game against Kansas was huge as he dropped 15 points, 8 rebounds, and a season-high of 4 assists. Knell can be a quickstart for this team, as the team is 10-1 when he scores more than 10+ points. However, the last time Knell faced off against Arizona, the Wildcats had his number. Knell would score 4 points on 1-3 shooting with 2 steals and 4 fouls.
Finally, Keita is a defensive menace for the Cougars, as he leads the team in both rebounds and blocks with 7.7 and 1 respectively. In the matchup against Kansas, the Keita effect was felt all over the court. Keita would drop 10 points on 5-7 shooting with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Against Arizona, Keita’s effect was still apparent as he scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting with 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal.
Kenpom currently sits the Cougars at 30 with a +21.02 rating, with the 13th-ranked offense (121.5) and the 60th-ranked defense (100.5). According to NET Rankings, against Quad 1 opponents BYU is 3-7, however, they have had 2 of these in their last 3 wins.
Latest on Arizona basketball:
No. 19 Arizona enters this matchup after a 74-67 win over Baylor in Waco, Texas. This was crucial in their conference record as they had just lost two straight before this matchup. Arizona pulled off the win despite only shooting 22.2% from the three-point line, with struggle seen in Anthony Dell’Orso and Caleb Love. Despite the struggle, Arizona’s big men continue to shine for the Wildcats as Henri Veesaar and Tobe Awaka had stellar outings.
In his first start of the season, Veesaar proved why he is an important piece in the Arizona offensive and defensive strategies. Against Baylor, Veesaar dropped 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, two steals and a block. In his last six games, he has scored 10+ five times, grabbed 5+ rebounds five times and has shot +60% every time. In Arizona’s last matchup against BYU, Veesaar dropped 17 points on 8-10 shooting with 6 rebounds and two steals.
Awaka has continued to dominate the defensive side of the ball for Arizona, however against Baylor, he showed he can dominate on offense as well. He would lead the team in scoring and rebounding over Bears dropping 14 points on 6-9 shooting with 12 rebounds. Awaka may have gone scoreless against Houston, but prior he was just finding his stride. In the three games before Houston, Awaka averaged 10+ points with 5+ rebounds, his biggest night came against Texas Tech where he dropped 14 points and 11 rebounds. When Awaka dominates both sides of the court, Arizona’s victory seems imminent as when he records a double-double Arizona is 6-0
Kenpom currently sits the Wildcats at 12 with a +25.76 rating, with the 23rd-ranked offense (119.5) and the 9th-ranked defense (93.3). According to NET Rankings, against Quad 1 opponents Arizona is 8-7, securing its latest Quad 1 win over Baylor to put it above 0.500 in total Quad 1 wins.
Arizona vs BYU Prediction: Wildcats by 4 (80-76)
Arizona will look to grab a crucial home victory after losing when they hosted Houston. BYU comes in however in commanding fashion with their massive upset. However, I think Arizona overpowers BYU by a slim margin and will find themselves back in winning form. Despite Arizona losing in their last time at McKale Center, Arizona is quite dominant at home going 11-2 when in Tucson, with their only two losses coming against some real tough opposition in then-No.12 Duke and then-No.6 Houston. All this while BYU struggles on the road, with them only going 3-5, however these three wins make up 3 of their last 4 away outings. This shows that this game could be close, but I think Arizona’s defensive dominance is the factor that will push them across the finishing line.