No. 4 Arizona bounces back from first 2 losses of the season, beats No. 23 BYU 75-68
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) drives on Arizona guard Anthony Dell'orso during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. Credit: AP/Rick Scuteri
TUCSON, Ariz. — Anthony Dell'Orso scored a season-high 22 points after coming off the bench, Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 and No. 4 Arizona bounced back from its first two losses of the season by beating No. 23 BYU 75-68 on Wednesday night.
Arizona (24-2, 11-2 Big 12) started the season with 23 consecutive wins, spending nine straight weeks as the nation's No. 1 team before losing back-to-back games to No. 9 Kansas and No. 16 Texas Tech.
Dell'Orso — a 6-foot-6 Australian — helped the Wildcats get back in the win column after shooting 8 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers.
BYU (19-7, 7-6) was led by freshman star AJ Dybantsa, who finished with 35 points on 13-of-28 shooting. The 6-foot-9 forward topped 30 points for the sixth time this season.
The Cougars were playing their first game without starting guard Richie Saunders, who tore his ACL in a 90-86 overtime victory against Colorado on Saturday. He’s out for the rest of the season.
Arizona never trailed in the second half and slowly pulled away, taking a 66-50 lead on Dell'Orso's 3-pointer with 6:40 left. BYU cut the deficit 73-68 with 1:05 remaining but couldn't get any closer.
Dell'Orso made a corner 3 at the halftime buzzer to give Arizona a 42-35 advantage.
BYU guard Robert Wright III drives between Arizona guard Brayden Burries and forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. Credit: AP/Rick Scuteri
Arizona played without starting forward Koa Peat and backup guard Dwayne Aristode. The school said Peat will also miss Saturday's game against No. 2 Houston because of a muscle strain in his lower leg area. He'll be re-evaluated next week.
Aristode missed his second straight game with an illness.
Up next
BYU hosts No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday.
Arizona plays at No. 2 Houston on Saturday.
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa (3) drives on Arizona guard Jaden Bradley during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Tucson, Ariz. Credit: AP/Rick Scuteri
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This story corrects Dybantsa’s point total.
