Injuries are at the forefront of No. 4 Arizona hosting No. 23 BYU in Wednesday’s Big 12 game at Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona’s nine-week run at No. 1 came to an end after consecutive losses last week at Kansas and at home against Texas Tech, a game in which freshman standout Koa Peat was unavailable after halftime because of a lower-leg injury and reserve Dwayne Aristode missed because of an illness.
BYU’s starting senior wing player Richie Saunders suffered a season-ending torn ACL 45 seconds into the Cougars’ win over Colorado at Provo, Utah on Saturday.
Saunders averaged career highs in points (18.0 game), rebounds (5.8), assists (2.1) and steals (1.7), while shooting 37.6% from 3-point range.
“I think it sucked the life out of the gym, if I’m being honest,” BYU coach Kevin Young said after the 90-86 win over Colorado. “You never want to see an injury to any player, but definitely (not) to someone who’s the heart and soul of our team (and) bleeds BYU blue. Just didn’t like seeing it.”
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd mentioned after Saturday’s 78-75 overtime loss to Texas Tech that Peat and Aristode might miss the game against BYU based on Peat’s test results on his leg and if Aristode’s unspecified illness continues.
“If you think you’re going to go through a season unscathed, you’ve never done this before,” Lloyd said. “You just got to be honest with yourself. We’re all human. I mean, the season’s been long. Obviously, you can see some injuries and illnesses are starting to pile up and catch up with us a little bit.
“We’ll bounce back. And hopefully we will be fully loaded when we need to be.”
When Arizona defeated BYU 86-83 at Provo on Jan. 26, that started a four-game losing streak for the Cougars, who have won consecutive close games at Baylor (99-94) and against Colorado.
In the Wildcats’ Big Monday win over BYU last month, they escaped in the closing seconds with a weak-side block from freshman sensation Brayden Burries on a drive to the basketball by Robert Wright III.
The Cougars almost pulled off the upset despite being down 19 points with less than 11 minutes remaining.
“They’re one of the toughest teams we’ve faced this whole season, just in terms of physicality and how aggressive they were,” Lloyd said. “They just hit hard. They box out hard. They do everything they do with intent.”
With Saunders out, BYU will rely on potential No. 1 NBA draft pick AJ Dybantsa and Wright to increase their scoring.
Dybantsa is averaging 24.4 points and 6.6 rebounds a game.
Wright is coming off a career-high 39 points against Colorado after scoring 30 in the win at Baylor, his former school.
Dybantsa (team-high 388 field-goal attempts), Wright (344) and Saunders (305) have tried considerably more attempts than their teammates. Kennard Davis Jr. (156) is the only other player with at least 100 shots from the field.
Arizona will have to contend with the duo of Wright and Dybantsa after struggling against Texas Tech’s heralded pair of Christian Anderson and J.T. Toppin.
Anderson had 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds and Toppin 31 points and 15 rebounds.
Tobe Awaka is the likely starter at power forward if Peat is unable to play. It will be the first time Arizona will have to alter its starting lineup this season.
