Arizona entered its Wednesday night matchup with BYU in a worse position than many realized, with star guard Brayden Burries playing compromised. Burries did not look like himself in the game, which prompted many questions that head coach Tommy Lloyd answered by revealing that his freshman had played through an illness.

Lloyd was proud of all his players for gutting out the victory, but he gave Burries a special shoutout for playing through his illness. The head coach told reporters that his point guard endured a “tough couple of days” before the game but never considered sitting out.

“I want to give Brayden a lot of credit; Brayden was not feeling well,” Lloyd said after the game, via PHNX Wildcats. “He's gonna be fine, but he really battled through that game. It's been a tough couple of days for him. To have that kind of competitive character to come out and play for your team when you're not feeling great says a lot about Brayden as a competitor and as a person.”

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Burries ended the game with a modest 11 points, two rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes. He shot just 4-for-13 from the floor, though an efficient 3-for-7 from three-point range.

Burries was Arizona's hero in its last encounter with BYU, leading it with a team-high 29 points and four assists, before securing the victory with a last-minute block on Rob Wright.

With Burries under the weather, veteran guard Anthony Dell'Orso stepped up with a season-high 22 points off the bench. Dell'Orso has struggled from deep all season, but hit four of his eight three-pointers to lead the team in scoring.

Burries has three days to recover before Arizona finds itself in yet another significant matchup on Saturday. The Wildcats hit the road to face No. 2 Houston, with the winner taking sole possession of first in the Big 12.