Was this BYU basketball’s version of the Utah footbal game?
Not quite.
But another late, controversial foul call allowed these Cougars to pull off a signature win during the stretch run of the season.
This time, it was BYU men’s basketball going into the McKale Center and pulling out a 96-95 win over Arizona. The Cougars were down 95-94 with 13 seconds to play when head coach Kevin Young dialed up a look for his best player, Richie Saunders.
Saunders originally wanted a three at the top of the key, but it was taken away. He drove it to his right, pivoted a few times and then threw up a shot. Official Tony Padilla called a foul on Arizona that drew skeptics.
Saunders knocked down both free throws to give the Cougars a win.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd disagreed with the call.
“It is a bad call. I mean, whatever. What am I going to say? You hate for a game to be decided by that,” he said. “The guy is pivoting, pivoting, pivoting. Threw his shoulder into him, throws up a shot and falls down. A foul with two seconds to go.”
But Llloyd followed up by saying he didn’t think that’s why Arizona lost.
“I mean it’s the Big 12. That’s what I’m told. The guy who called it is one of the best refs. So we got to live with it,“ he continued. ”But take a step back, they scored 93 points up until that point on our home court. That is the problem. Me, my staff, and my players, that’s the problem. Not the officials. It would have been great to steal a victory if they don’t call that. But don’t put yourself in your position.”
Saunders said he wasn’t necessarily looking for a foul, but didn’t have anywhere to go.
“There is only so much time on the clock and trying to figure out how in the world I’m going to make something happen. Lucky he bit on the shot fake and I was fortunate enough to get to the line,” he said. “I practice that since I was a little kid in the church gym. That is what I practice.”
Young didn’t comment on the foul call, but did say he changed his late-game approach from the last time BYU was in that spot. It was on the road at Utah, where it ultimately lost in part because it didn’t get a clean look on the final possession.
“We were in a similar situation at Utah and I kicked myself for not having the right thing dialed up. So I spent a lot of mental time on that particular situation,” Young said. “The play broke down but we wanted to go to Richie. And he was able to make a play. That is what you have to do in that situation. Plays are great, but players got to make plays.”
One of the Big 12’s most prominent television voices, Fran Fraschilla, disagreed with the call.
“If that foul call was made during the NCAA Tournament, there would be a national uproar. Let’s put it another way, BYU’s Richie Saunders, who should be First Team All-Big 12, is a very astute player,” he wrote on social media.
