Brayden Burries’ 3-point shooting and scoring, Arizona taking control of the ball with only five turnovers, Motiejus Krivas’ rebounding … different ways for the Wildcats to be successful continues to manufacture wins for the top-ranked team in the nation.
Arizona is 20-0 overall and 7-0 in the Big 12 after the 88-53 victory Saturday over West Virginia (13-7, 4.3).
The start is only one victory shy of matching the program record of 21-0 achieved in 2013-14.
The Wildcats next have a significant showdown Monday in Provo, Utah, against No. 13 BYU, which hosts rival Utah on Saturday afternoon.
Arizona never trailed against West Virginia after leading 10-2 less than three minutes into the game.
Burries converted two of his four 3-pointers at that time. He finished 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
He had 22 points, increasing his team-high total to six games of reaching at least 20 points this season.
He was in a 4-of-15 slump from 3-point range over a four-game stretch before going 8 of 17 in the last three games.
An 11-2 run fueled by four points by Burries and a welcomed 3-pointer by struggling Anthony Dell’Orso increased the lead to 22-8 with 11:48 left in the half.
Dell’Orso was in an 0-of-15 shooting slump (0 of 6 from 3-point range) over a four-game stretch before making the shot from beyond the arc. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats led by at least double digits when Koa Peat started a 7-0 run, capped by a Burries 3-pointer, increasing the lead to 32-16 with 4:34 left until halftime.
Arizona led 43-23 at halftime behind Burries’ 13 points and five assists.
The Wildcats pulled away for good behind another 7-0 run that increased the lead to 60-32 with 12:44 left.
Arizona was so in rhythm with its offensive flow that Krivas nailed a 3-pointer with 11:14 remaining, giving the Wildcats a 63-37 lead.
Krivas finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.
West Virginia, led by Chance Moore’s 12 points, shot 34.4 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from 3-point range.
Indicative of the discrepancy of aggressive play, West Virginia attempted only four free throws (making three) while Arizona was 16 of 23 from the line. The Mountaineers did not attempt their first free throw until 6:50 remained.
Arizona outrebounded West Virginia 43-30 and outscored the Mountaineers 36-28 in the paint.
Jaden Bradley finished with eight points in each of the wins this week at McKale Center over Cincinnati and West Virginia but he had eight assists with only two turnovers in the games.
He has 90 assists and just 29 turnovers. In the last five games, he has 21 assists and five turnovers.
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