BYU Basketball Pulled Off Scoring Feat at Arizona No Other Team Has Since Jimmer Fredette
On Saturday night, BYU basketball went into the McKale Center and scored 96 points in a 96-95 thriller. The win cemented BYU’s NCAA Tournament hopes and allowed BYU to maintain control of fifth place in the Big 12 standings.
After the game, college basketball enthusiast Jared Berson put out a wild stat on social media. BYU’s 96 points were the most Arizona has allowed at home since 2009 when Jimmer Fredette scored 49 and led a 99-69 beatdown of the Wildcats. 49 points is a McKale Center record that still stands to this day.
2009 was the last time BYU played Arizona in Tuscon. There have been 258 games played at the McKale center between BYU’s 99-point outing in 2009 and the 96 points scored on Saturday night.
Arizona has been dominant when they score 90 points or more. The Wildcats were 43-1 under Tommy Lloyd when scoring 90 points or more. They are now 43-2 as BYU overcame the odds and pulled out the gritty road victory.
Arizona has been very good at home this season. Their only prior home losses came against top 10 teams in Duke and Houston. Both of those teams have the potential to be no. 1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
BYU is peaking at the right time, especially on offense. It took time for BYU’s new cast of characters to click in a new system under Kevin Young. Now that is has, the results are spectacular. The Cougars scored an averaged of 93.5 points per game this week against Kansas and Arizona. Both Kansas and Arizona ranked in the top 20 in defensive efficiency heading into their games against BYU.
As the calendar turns to March, the Cougars have a chance to make some noise.
