Freshman guards Brayden Burries and Ivan Kharchenkov each had 20 points to lead No. 2 Arizona to a 103-73 victory Monday night over Denver at McKale Center.
Fellow freshmen Dwayne Aristode (17 points) and Koa Peat (12 before fouling out) also scored in double figures for Arizona (6-0).
It is fourth time Arizona has started 6-0 in the last six seasons.
Tobe Awaka came off the bench to contribute 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Burries had seven rebounds and Kharchenkov and Aristode each had five as the Wildcats outrebounded Denver 50-29.
“My teammates were finding me and the coaches put me in the right position, so all the credit goes to them, honestly,” said Burries to CBS Sports Network of his career-high scoring total.
The Wildcats dominated Denver (2-4) in the paint, outscoring the Pioneers 50-22.
Arizona produced 26 assists for its 41 made field goals, led by Anthony Dell’Orso’s seven assists.
“I feel like we’re still a work in progress,” Burries mentioned. “We’re working to score a bigger goal, but we’re doing great right now, but we have a lot to get better at, though.”
Denver was led by Carson Johnson’s 18 points.
Zane Nelson added 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
Arizona scored the first 13 points of the game and led 14-5 when Denver made its first field goal with 13:53 left in the first half.
The Wildcats then went on a 19-2 run that increased the lead to 33-7 with 7:50 left in the half.
Arizona led 56-28 at halftime after producing the most points in a first half this season.
The Wildcats shot 52.4 percent from the field at that point.
Burries and Kharchenkov nearly outscored Denver in the half, combining for 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field.
Denver was 8 of 28 (28.6 percent) from the field in the first half.
The Pioneers committed 11 turnovers that led to 14 points for Arizona before halftime.
Burries had 13 points and a season-high six rebounds by halftime.
His jumper that opened the scoring in the second half put Arizona ahead 58-28 with 19:22 left.
A jump shot by Johnson ended that stretch and cut the lead to 68-45 lead with 14:40 remaining.
Arizona made a string of 12 consecutive field goals from 3:34 left in the first half until 15:43 remaining to keep a significant lead.
The Wildcats shot 56.9 percent (41 of 72) from the field, 42.9 percent (12 of 28) from 3-point range.
Aristode was 4 of 8 from beyond the arc and Burries was 3 of 6.
Recommended for you
