BYU shocks McKale: Cougars edge No. 19 Arizona in instant classic

TUCSON, Ariz. — A wild night in the desert ended in jubilation for BYU and chaos for Arizona.

In a game filled with clutch shots, controversial calls and a heated postgame scene, the Cougars stunned No. 19 Arizona 96-95 at the McKale Center, capping a thrilling back-and-forth battle with ice-cold free throws from Richie Saunders in the final seconds.

With the win, BYU secured its second straight victory over a ranked opponent and boosted its NCAA tournament resume, while Arizona fans showered the court with boos — and more — as tempers flared in the aftermath.

It was an electric atmosphere in the McKale Center as the Cougars made their first trip to Tucson since Dec. 28, 2009, when Jimmer Fredette scored a McKale Center-record 49 points.

With under a minute to go, Saunders drove to the cup for layup and drew the foul but missed the free throw with a chance to go up five. The Cougars almost retained possession on the rebound but Arizona gained possession and Caleb Love did Caleb Love things with a clutch 3 to make it a one-point game with 32 seconds left to play.

The Wildcat defense applied good pressure on the Cougars, forcing coach Kevin Young to call a timeout. Dallin Hall was fouled after the timeout but missed the free throw on the one and one and Love took the ball and drove to the lane where he drew a foul.

Love nailed both free throws as Arizona took a 95-94 lead with 13 seconds to play.

BYU didn’t flinch. The Cougars showed down the stretch in this game that they are learning to play in these types of situations, especially since the last time they played this Wildcat team.

Young drew up a play to get the ball into his most efficient player’s hands, trusting Saunders would make the right decision. Saunders stuttered and then drove to the lane and was fouled, giving BYU a chance to tie or take the lead.

Saunders sank both free throws to momentarily quiet the raucous Arizona crowd.

With three seconds left and no timeouts, the Wildcats could not even get a shot up and the Cougars came away with the gritty win.

“It was a terrible call,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd after the game.

While the call that sent Saunders to the line may be controversial, the free throw differential was heavily in Arizona’s favor as they shot 25 from the charity stripe compared to BYU’s 14. There were also questionable calls and no calls that went the Wildcats way all game.

After playing a tightly contested game, tensions boiled over as teams met in the handshake lines following the contest. Players were held back by coaches as pleasantries were exchanged. Fans were chanting expletives directed at BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while also hurling items at players and coaches as they walked off the court.

In the midst of the chaos and controversy, Saunders is as calm and collected as they come.

“Practice,” said Saunders when asked about his approach to his clutch free throws. “Since I was a little kid in the church gym, that’s what I practiced. It’s so loud and everything’s on the line, that’s why you play basketball.”

The Cougars scored the most points they’ve ever scored in a Big 12 game with 96, surpassing the total of 93 they scored against Baylor at home earlier this season.

BYU had a balanced scoring attack in this high-scoring affair, as five players finished the game in double figures. One of the biggest contributors was freshman Kanon Catchings, who was coming off a game in which he scored zero points. He finished the game with 14 points in just under 15 minutes of action.

“When he’s aggressive looking for his shot, he really changes the game for us,” Young said. “I’m really proud of Kanon. When he’s playing at that type of level our ceiling is a lot different.”

With the win over Arizona, BYU has now won consecutive games over ranked opponents for the first time since January 1988, when the Cougars defeated No. 12 Wyoming and No. 18 UTEP on the road.

The Cougars also picked up their fourth quad one victory of the season, boosting their chances of securing an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

It was not a perfect game for BYU despite shooting 55.4% from the field and 45.2% from three. The Cougars allowed Arizona to shoot 54.2% from the field and 45.5% from three and the Wildcats outrebounded BYU 36-25.

Freshman Egor Demin turned it over six times but he did have one of his better performances on the road, recording 13 points and eight assists.

The Cougars will need to continue to improve and stack wins if they are going to make a deep NCAA tournament run.

After a successful week in which BYU defeated No. 23 Kansas by nearly 40 points and No. 19 Arizona on the road, the question will be where will the Cougars be ranked in next week’s AP poll.

In the meantime, the Cougars will now turn their attention to Arizona State as they look to complete the road sweep of the copper state on Wednesday night in Tempe.