For the Arizona Wildcats, Saturday night’s Big 12 battle against BYU at McKale Center ended in controversy—and it could have significant implications for their conference tournament seeding.
With 3.2 seconds left and Arizona leading 95-94, BYU’s Richie Saunders attempted an off-balance shot in the lane, which fell short and landed in the hands of Tobe Awaka. However, just as the buzzer sounded, lead referee Tony Padilla—positioned near midcourt—whistled Arizona’s Trey Townsend for a foul, sending Saunders to the line for two game-deciding free throws.
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
Saunders sank both to seal BYU’s 96-95 upset victory, handing Arizona its second consecutive home loss and dropping the Wildcats further out of Big 12 title contention.
Arizona players, coaches, and fans were furious with the call, which was not made by the baseline official who had the best vantage point of the play. Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd expressed his frustration postgame, but ultimately accepted the outcome.
Trey Townsend called for a “foul”, costs Arizona the game
“It’s a bad call. I mean, like, whatever. What am I going to say?” Lloyd said. “You hate for a game to be decided by that. Trey [Townsend], I feel horrible for him. The guy didn’t play in the second half. I tightened the rotation.”
Lloyd also pointed out that Townsend had maintained a legal defensive stance, while Saunders initiated the contact before falling to the floor.
“He played good defense. The guy’s pivoting, pivoting, pivoting, throws his shoulder into him, throws up a shot and falls down. It’s a foul with two seconds to go. I mean, listen, it’s the Big 12. That’s what I’m told. And the guy who called it is one of the best refs. So we’ve got to live with it.”
While the controversial call was the game’s defining moment, Arizona’s defense struggled throughout the night. The Cougars shot 55.4% from the field, including 14-of-31 from three-point range.
The Wildcats shot well themselves, hitting 54.2% from the field and 10-of-22 from deep—a huge improvement after three consecutive poor shooting games. Caleb Love led Arizona with 27 points, while Awaka had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Anthony Dell’Orso contributed 11 points.
But Arizona’s 14 turnovers led to 22 points for BYU, compared to the 10 points Arizona scored off nine Cougar turnovers. The loss all but eliminates Arizona (18-9, 12-4 Big 12) from Big 12 title contention, dropping them three games behind first-place Houston (23-4, 15-1) with only four games remaining.
More importantly, BYU (19-8, 10-6) is now just two games behind the Wildcats for the fourth seed in the Big 12 Tournament, which guarantees a bye into the quarterfinals. Arizona is now tied with Texas Tech (12-4 Big 12) for second place, while Iowa State (11-5 Big 12) lurks just one game behind.
With matchups against Iowa State and Kansas looming, Arizona faces a brutal stretch that could force a multi-team tiebreaker for seeding in the Big 12 Tournament.
Arizona returns home on Wednesday night for a matchup against Utah, a must-win game before their difficult road trip to Iowa State and Kansas. If the Wildcats fail to lock down a top-four seed, this heartbreaking loss to BYU will be one of the main reasons why.
The post Arizona Wildcats fall to BYU in upsetting fashion appeared first on ClutchPoints.
