The Arizona Wildcats entered Saturday night’s face off with the BYU Cougars as 7.5-point home favorites, but wedging a splinter of separation between the two teams would have been hard to do in the second half–it was that close.
In the stiflingly tight affair, the Cougars knocked off their second straight ranked opponent with 96-95 victory, having toppled Kansas on Tuesday. While that game was a blowout, on Saturday BYU never led by more 8, Arizona by no more than 5. The score remained within a 5-point margin for the entire second half.
Any one play can decide a game that close, and unfortunately, a no-call in the final seconds effectively decided the outcome. It was a frustrating end to a riveting clash.
If that foul call was made during the NCAA Tournament, there would be a national uproar. Let’s put it another way. @BYUMBB Richie Saunders, who should be First Team All @Big12Conference, is a very astute player. @Big12Conference
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) February 23, 2025
Botched Call Comes at Worst Time in BYU Cougars-Arizona Wildcats Thriller
On a night on which he finished with 27 points, Arizona’s Caleb Love gave his team the lead, 95-94, with a pair of free throws. When the second swished through nylon, the crowd broke into a frenzy.
After BYU took its last timeout, the Wildcats smothered the Cougars on the other end, forcing a wild shot attempt near the basket from Richie Saunders, who led his team with 23 points. As the commentators noted, forward Trey Townsend played excellent defense. A shuffling wall guarding the paint, he established his position and avoided contact with the Saunders on the shot.
The offensive player clearly initiated what contact there was, while Townsend remain vertical and did nothing to interfere with the shot. It was not a blocking foul. There was no swipe down on the shooter’s arm. It appeared to be clean defense.
Unfortunately, as they had been all night, officials blew the whistle, likely prompted by Saunders’ flailing tumble to the floor. Specific to the college game, review was not an option to overturn the call. To Saunders’ credit, he knocked down both freebies, leaving Arizona, out timeouts, with 3.2 seconds to heave a pass downcourt.
A Cougar intercepted the Hail Mary and threw the ball into the air before the horn sounded. Both teams got chippy on the court in the handshake line. Love had to be pulled away from the fracas. Above and around the players, boos rained down in McKale Memorial Center.
But not everyone felt the same way about the call.
Not the Only Blown Whistle That Night–Fans Claim Arizona Wildcats, BYU Cougars Favored at Different Times
On social media, some viewers echoed the home crowd’s sentiment, but others noted that the refs had been calling that type of game all night long. Either way, although in sports there is something something to the notion that two wrongs do, in fact, make a right, it was a poorly timed whistle that sullied the cinema of the game on a sour, anticlimactic note.
The refs just called this a foul on Arizona in a one point game with 3.2 seconds left. The two free throws gave BYU the win. This is absolutely criminal! pic.twitter.com/rlL5I3x2HK
— CFBBlueprint (@CFBBluePrint) February 23, 2025
“Where the hell is the foul!???” one incredulous viewer asked.
“The ref needs to be fired,” vented another.
Others occupied more of a middle ground:
“Horrible call but consistent with what has been called all night.”
“Horrible call fs but the refs handed AZ some awful calls in the final 3 min as well.”
And others took the Cougars’ side:
“Arizona got 3 of those in the last 3 minutes.”
“lol…they called that BS all night against BYU.”
“Now do the cheap, soft fouls called against BYU that looked just like this and gave AZ 11 more free throw attempts.”
Of course, some of these comments are divided across party lines. Some claimed Townsend had hip-checked Townsend, clearly not the case, but it is worth noting that, for the game, the Wildcats did net 25 free throw attempts to the Cougars’ 14.
If that play was poorly officiated, most of the game was called “soft” as well. It is just unfortunate, in that kind of spotlight, to have the striped birdies materially impacting the moment.
With the loss, Arizona falls to 12-4 in the Big 12, good for third place in the conference, and 18-9 overall. BYU improves to 19-9 (10-6), avenging themselves for Arizona’s 85-74 victory earlier this season.
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