The Arizona Wildcats pulled off another home win taking down Kansas State 101-76. The win was Arizona’s 10th straight win by at least 19 points. Tommy Lloyd took to the podium after the game to talk about his evolution as a coach, it is clear Lloyd has found a rhythm and his players have too.
It was the mix of size, speed and skill that killed Kansas State tonight. It really was never a fair fight.
Arizona out-rebounded State by 23, scored 2o more points in the paint and scored 10 more fast break points than Jerome Tang’s squad.
Kansas State came out in the 2nd half and made attempts to bring the game within a respectable margin (nine points) but the maturity of the Wildcats group was on full display as they weathered the storm and were able to re-separate themselves in this game.
Arizona’s real separator is _?
Rebounding. No team in the country is rebounding like Arizona right now. The Wildcats have the best rebounder in the country (Tobe Awaka) coming off the bench, only playing 20 minutes per game. The Wildcats have out-rebounded every opponent this season, the only Division-I team to do that.
It is going to continue to be difficult for teams to overcome the challenge that is Arizona MBB when the Wildcats are rebounding like this on both ends. If a team can rebound with them, they have taken the first step towards flipping Arizona’s bandwagon upside down.
Between Motiejus Krivas, Tobe Awaka, Koa Peat, Brayden Burries and Ivan Kharchenkov the Cats may have the best group of rebounders of any team in the country. Those players have a mix of size and instinct that make them forces on the glass.
Krivas recorded 12 rebounds vs Kansas State, Burries tallied 9 and Awaka had 11 boards as well.
Star guard, Brayden Burries has been a sneakily great rebounding presence for Arizona this season and is being pushed to do more of it going forward per coach Lloyd.
Brayden Burries Puts On A Show
It was only weeks ago that Arizona fans were beginning to get nervous about Brayden Burries’ lack of production but just as experts were preaching patience, Burries exploded.
The freshman guard has become an impact player on both ends of the court. Burries has recorded 20 rebounds and six steals in his first two Big 12 Conference games. His emergence has taken Arizona from a team that coaches were worried about facing, to a team that truly has no weak links.
It’s not just Burries’ defense and rebounding, his offense has been incredible. 28 points on wonderful efficiency for the freshman who also dunked on a 7’2 center in this game.
TC-U Next Game!
Arizona will defend their undefeated record against TCU (11-4, 1-1) Saturday at 2pm MST. TCU is coming off of a gut-wrenching loss to Kansas where many believe the Horned Frogs should have gotten the job done.
TCU is a team that can give Arizona some challenges, specifically at home in the Schollmaier Arena. Leading scorer David Punch also carries the torch in the rebounding and blocks categories for TCU. Punch is an uber talented sophomore who will have his hands full with Arizona’s roster.
To learn more about TCU vs Arizona and to stay up to date on all the Wildcats latest, tune into the AZ Wildcats Podcast with Damon Fairall and Kevin Thomas!
