Breaking Down No. 2 Arizona's Dominating Win Over Denver
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Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.
Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years with his coverage spanning all-across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.
Fresh off an impressive 71-67 win over then-No. 3 UConn, No. 2 Arizona (6-0) traveled back home to square off against Denver in a late Monday night game looking to keep the train rolling after climbing two spots in the latest AP Poll.
One of the toughest things to do in college basketball when you have a young team with seven freshmen is to stay sharp and ready for these games against lower-level Group of Five teams when coming off the highs of back-to-back wins over highly ranked opponents.
Although Arizona has a lot of youth, the WIldcats have the right mix of veteran leadership and coaching that kept everyone on track against Denver. UA throttled Pioneers 103-73 to lock in the team’s sixth win of the season.
In the last game against UConn, Arizona saw freshman Brayden Burreis struggle with just scoring four points on 2 of 4 shooting from the field.
Against Denver, Burries found his groove again and dropped 20 points while going 7 of 13 from the field and collecting seven rebounds and four assists in his 23 minutes.
It was a game of the freshmen as forward Ivan Kharchenkov recorded a career-high 20 points while going an impressive 9 of 12 from the field. Meanwhile, Kharchenkov dropped two 3-point shots.
Another freshman that was able to have an impact on the game was forward Dwayne Aristode, who scored 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Aristode managed to collect five rebounds for the night.
It was one of those games where the starting lineup didn’t get as many minutes as they usually do given the way the game was getting out of hand early in the night.
Still, point guard Jaden Bradley was able to score nine points and three assists while having zero turnovers.
Koa Peat recorded 12 points while going 6 of 10 from the field and grabbed three rebounds in just 22 minutes on the court.
Overall, Arizona shot 57% from the field and knocked down 12 3-point shots while holding Denver to 40% shooting on the other end.
In the paint, Arizona did what it has done all-season-long and dominated the low-post with 50 points and grabbed 50 rebounds. The Wildcats scored 16 second-chance points against the Pioneers.
With the bench getting more of a look, the Wildcats added 35 bench points with Tobe Awaka and Aristode being the main scoring options for Tommy Lloyd.
Arizona will play one more game this week as the team faces off against Norfolk State on Saturday with the game set for a 2 p.m. (MST) tip off and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Please be sure to let us know what you think of the game by clicking on the link.
Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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