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Wildcats Explosive First Half Burries Denver Early 103-73
Arizona powered its way to a dominant 103–73 victory over Denver on Monday night, breaking the game open with a 13–0 run and a 56–28 halftime lead. The Wildcats controlled the floor on both ends, shooting nearly 57 percent from the field and over 42 percent from three while overwhelming the Pioneers with a 50–22 advantage in points in the paint. Arizona also crushed Denver on the glass with a 50–29 rebounding edge, setting the tone early and never allowing the visitors to settle in.
Freshman talent led the scoring surge as Brayden Burries and Ivan Kharchenkov each posted 20 points, while Dwayne Aristode added 17 and Koa Peat contributed 12 before fouling out. Tobe Awaka delivered a strong performance off the bench with a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double that helped Arizona maintain its inside dominance. Denver's Carson Johnson scored 18 points and Zane Nelson added 17, but the Pioneers simply couldn't match Arizona's size, energy, or offensive firepower as the Wildcats rolled to another convincing non-conference win.
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I see what you did there *upvote*
Burrie-down
I am "OK" with Tommy trying to feature Burries and Aristode. He knows they have both been slacking and struggling in "real" games. However, the Defense was atrocious considering the game started about 6 minutes before Denver scored a bucket (on a 3pt shot bone headed foul mind you).
Let me give my quick notes after watching this game.
Offense
- Lloyd is clearly using these games as glorified scrimmages to tinker with roles/lineups and I thank him for it. You put Awaka/Bradley/Peat on ice, and you focused on Aristode/Burries/Kharchenkov/Krivas to get their confidence up before Auburn/Alabama and Big 12 play.
- I can see you are trying to shoot your way out of the slump you seem to be in from deep. You got up a lot of shots from deep, but that is a game-to-game thing, and you are banking on building confidence to help increase your shooting %. That is not going to work. You are going to hit slumps. You just have to work through it.
- I still Lloyd to figure out a way to focus on Krivas in the half-court 1v1 iso on the block. For the amount of energy you are demanding of him on offense, you should give him post touches to keep him engaged. Trust me coach.
Defense
- This game is an outlier because you jumped out to a huge lead early in the 1st half. Denver did not score until 5mins into the game on a FT. They did not hit their first bucket until a few minutes later.
- The 1v1 defense was acceptable until it wasn't. These boys knew that Denver laid down when Arizona went on that 20-2 run in the 1st half. I would have liked to see you continue to stress the importance of keeping your man in front of you, paying attention to detail, and completing your assignment. Just because we are up, does not mean you get lax and play lazy. That is how you will lose a game to Colorado or Utah in elevation just because you believe you are more talented than they are.
This game was over from the start.
There was not much to really analyze from Lloyd and this team.
I will say that this team (so far) is the most-talented team Lloyd has ever had in his tenure at Arizona.
Yes, this team is projecting to be better than that 2021-22 team.
The fact that you can see Lloyd tinkering with roles/lineups in-game makes me believe that this season could be the season.
On to Norfolk State!
#BearDown
Quote from: mvpreed2 on November 27, 2025, 11:16:20 AMYou got up a lot of shots from deep, but that is a game-to-game thing, and you are banking on building confidence to help increase your shooting %. That is not going to work. You are going to hit slumps. You just have to work through it.
- I still Lloyd to figure out a way to focus on Krivas in the half-court 1v1 iso on the block. For the amount of energy you are demanding of him on offense, you should give him post touches to keep him engaged. Trust me coach.
Went right back to no 3pt attempts, no progress.
Went into Krivas to beat up on a small team that couldn't stop the size.
End result: Learned nothing overall, got better at nothing.
Defensively
- This game is an outlier because you jumped out to a huge lead early in the 1st half. Denver did not score until 5mins into the game on a FT. They did not hit their first bucket until a few minutes later.
- The 1v1 defense was acceptable until it wasn't. These boys knew that Denver laid down when Arizona went on that 20-2 run in the 1st half. I would have liked to see you continue to stress the importance of keeping your man in front of you, paying attention to detail, and completing your assignment. Just because we are up, does not mean you get lax and play lazy. That is how you will lose a game to Colorado or Utah in elevation just because you believe you are more talented than they are.
----> Norfolk St outplayed Arizona for most of the 1st half. It was tough to watch. More what a NCAA Tournament game looks like for a high seed vs low seed. A struggle for 10-15 minutes of the 1st half before the pull away. In this case, Tommy had to get tactical and feed Krivas vs short kids.
It was only close for 10 minutes. The gameplan was to get the ball inside because Arizona had a major height advantage. Settling for threes against a smaller opponent would be ridiculous.
Quote from: KansasCityCats on November 29, 2025, 09:48:30 PMIt was only close for 10 minutes. The gameplan was to get the ball inside because Arizona had a major height advantage. Settling for threes against a smaller opponent would be ridiculous.
We can get that outcome any time we want. To waste a full game the way Tommy did is very foolhardy. 3pt shooting is necessary and he can't avoid it forever.
Auburn plays NC State and Arizona this week while Tommy has our guys kicking their feet up not even playing real basketball vs Norfolk nor Denver.
Let's see if Arizona can get up for the Auburn game then after that if they have anything to offer Alabama.
The team is undoubtedly practicing early for auburn. I would bet money that a game plan is already prepared.
https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other
The Cats and Tigers are neck and neck regarding SOS (Arizona has the slight edge within the Top-10).
Although Pearl lined up Purdue, he also has brutal matchups with Chattanooga and Queens College, prior to the conference slate. Whatever Lloyd did...it's working because we're heavy favorites on Saturday.
Quote from: KansasCityCats on December 01, 2025, 08:25:22 PMThe team is undoubtedly practicing early for auburn. I would bet money that a game plan is already prepared.
https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other
The Cats and Tigers are neck and neck regarding SOS (Arizona has the slight edge within the Top-10).
Although Pearl lined up Purdue, he also has brutal matchups with Chattanooga and Queens College, prior to the conference slate. Whatever Lloyd did...it's working because we're heavy favorites on Saturday.
Game plans are meaningless if they don't go according to plan. Adjustments can't always wait til halftime. Tommy has timeouts. He needs to learn how to stop runs.