Arizona is back in the AP Top 25 and sitting atop the Big 12 standings, at arguably its highest point of the season. Which would make right now a terrible time to stumble, but also so very Arizona.
The Wildcats (15-6, 9-1) are tie for first place with Houston as the second half of the Big 12 season gets underway, and the final 10 games figure to be considerably harder than the first. Seven of the UA’s remaining contests are against teams within three games of it in the standings, starting with Tuesday’s visit to BYU.
The Cougars (15-6, 6-4) have won four in a row and only have one loss at home, by five to the same Texas Tech team that handed Arizona its only Big 12 setback. The Wildcats have a revenge game with the 13th-ranked Red Raiders on Saturday, but the focus can’t yet shift to that one.
Here’s what to watch for when Arizona makes its first trip to BYU since 1998:
A 3-point barrage
BYU averages more than 28 3-point attempts per game, and leads the Big 12 in shooting from outside at 38.2 percent. Four players are shooting over 40 percent led by junior Richie Saunders, who is shooting 49.2 percent from 3 and 52.8 percent overall.
First-year coach Kevin Young, who was an assistant with the Phoenix Suns last season, brought with him an NBA mindset for his offense, which does a lot of pick and roll with 6-foot-9 freshman point guard Egor Demin running the floor. BYU has hit at least 10 3s in 13 of 21 games, draining 15 on four occasions including 15 of 24 against Cincinnati two weeks ago.
Arizona is allowing 31.4 percent from 3 in Big 12 play but has shown it can be rotated into oblivion and lose a guy or two on PNRs. The key will be pressuring Demin, who turns it over more than 25.5 percent of the time in league games, before he can get the offense set up.
BYU will also try to get Arizona to shoot a lot from 3, part of its defensive plan, but the goal will be to get the likes of Trey Townsend and KJ Lewis to take those shots rather than Caleb Love, Anthony Dell’Orso and Carter Bryant.
A hostile environment
Arizona is 4-1 on the road in Big 12 play, but other than Texas Tech the crowds have been pretty tame. West Virginia is ranked by KenPom as having the best home court advantage in the country but snowy weather dampened the crowd and the Wildcats won by 19, while Oklahoma State only announced a crowd of 6,355 and Saturday’s game at ASU had the typical fan makeup that lends itself to that arena getting called McKale North.
BYU’s Marriott Center is a step up in atmosphere. At nearly 19,000 it has the 10th-largest capacity in Division I and is the fifth-biggest on-campus arena, and the Cougars are averaging close to 17,000.
There’s a large (5,000) student section right behind the basket Arizona will be shooting on for the second half, and apparently Provo has become a destination for random celebrities. MMA star Connor McGregor was at the Cougars’ overtime win over Baylor last week.
Get to the line
Arizona was 21 of 22 on free throws in Saturday’s 81-72 win at ASU, including 13 of 14 in the second half against the “Curtain of Distraction.” For the season the Wildcats are shooting 76.4 percent on foul shots, 78.5 percent in Big 12 games.
BYU shoots 68.4 percent in league play, with only two regulars over 70 percent, and the Cougars don’t get to the line nearly as much as Arizona but do tend to foul more frequently since they have a 9-man rotation and aren’t worried about foul trouble.
Since the Cougars get less than 45 percent of their scoring from 2-point shots, Arizona’s main foul trouble worries will be getting whistled on closeouts or reach ins rather than banging in the paint.