PROVO, Utah (AP) — Brayden Burries scored 29 points and made the game-saving block in the final seconds as top-ranked Arizona remained unbeaten by holding off a furious rally from No. 13 BYU for an 86-83 victory Monday night.
Jaden Bradley added 26 points for the Wildcats (21-0, 9-0 Big 12), who matched the best start in school history.
BYU trailed by 19 midway through the second half before trimming the deficit to one with a 12-2 run that began with just more than a minute left. Keba Keita’s putback dunk pulled the Cougars to 84-83 with 16 seconds to go, and they forced a turnover on the inbounds play.
Robert Wright III drove toward the rim and wriggled free for a good look near the basket, but Burries came flying over from the weak side to block the shot from behind. He grabbed the loose ball and converted two free throws before BYU missed a long heave at the buzzer.
NO. 4 DUKE 86, NO. 20 LOUISVILLE 52
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Cameron Boozer had 19 points and 10 rebounds to help Duke roll past Louisville, giving the preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorite a sweep of its projected top challenger.
Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II each added 15 points for the Blue Devils (19-1, 8-0 ACC), who scored 13 unanswered points spanning halftime to assert control after leading by just one shortly before the break. That spurt was merely the start of turning this into a romp, with the Cardinals struggling to make much of anything while the Blue Devils dominated the glass and the paint and shot 50.8%.
Duke took its first meeting with the team picked to finish second in the ACC on Jan. 6, rallying from 12 down on the road and shooting 70.8% (17 of 24) in the second half. The Blue Devils left no doubt in this one on the way to their 27th straight home win, which pushed them to 7-1 against AP Top 25 foes.
Ryan Conwell scored 18 points to lead the Cardinals (14-6, 4-4), who went 3 for 22 from the field over a roughly 15-minute stretch that carried into the second half. Louisville finished the game shooting 29.6%.
The Associated Press
