BearDownU - The #1 Arizona Wildcats Sports Source!

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Arizona Blows Out Auburn 97–68 in statement home victory

The Arizona Wildcats delivered a dominant performance in Tucson, rolling past Auburn 97–68 to secure a convincing victory. Arizona controlled the game from start to finish, taking a 44–32 lead into halftime before erupting in the second half with multiple scoring runs that turned the contest into a rout. The Wildcats finished the night shooting 61.2% from the field and an impressive 63.6% after the break, showcasing one of their most efficient offensive outings of the season while improving to 8–0 overall.

Koa Peat led Arizona with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries added 16 points apiece to fuel the balanced attack. Ivan Kharchenkov chipped in 12 points and 8 assists, helping Arizona move the ball smoothly throughout the game. Auburn struggled to keep pace offensively, shooting just 33.3% as a team despite a standout effort from Tahaad Pettiford, who poured in 30 points. Arizona's depth, defensive pressure, and shooting efficiency proved too much, as the Wildcats closed the night with one of their most complete performances of the year. Arizona will likely be ranked #1 in the nation come Monday.

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Another edition of What Reed Sees: Auburn Edition!
Here we go:

Pros
- Going inside early to Krivas to take advantage of our size (+)
- That high/low action is a cheat code and tough to stop with Arizona's trio of bigs (++)
- Aristode/Kharchenkov hitting 3s takes this team to title-contending level! (++)
- Anytime you can get something from Burries, it takes this team to Final Four contention (+)
- I like the way Arizona was still able to get quality shots with Auburn in that zone (++)
HOT TAKE: This team shooting +40% from deep will not only take them to the Final Four, but win their 2nd National Championship!

Cons
- There needs to a concentrated effort to keep your man in front of you on defense. Stop counting on Krivas to bail you out! If he gets in foul trouble, there is no other rim-protector on this team! (--)
- Can Miller or somebody call Lloyd and show him how to teach your team how to take a charge! The amount of extra TOs (+5) this team could have caused by simply taking a charge is nuts! (--)
- There has to be a happy medium where you can play fast and limit your TOs. I stopped counting after the 5th TO, but 13TOs is too much in this game in the way they happened. Bad/lazy passes is not how you want to have a TO. (--)
- Burries is going to stunt his own development by not being able to consistently be on the floor because he is in foul trouble. (-)
HOT TAKE: Burries is not going leaving for the NBA after this season. He will be back next season as Arizona's starting PG.

Comments
- I appreciate Lloyd's willingness to adjust the gameplan. I don't know who told him to do it, but I don't believe he did that as much as he did in past seasons.
- Auburn's Hall/Pettiford had the ability to make this game interesting, but Arizona did a good job of shutting one of them down. Pettiford still went off (30pts).
- This team needs Kharchenkov a lot more than they think they do. I do not want to see what this team looks like without him in the starting lineup (seriously).
- As soon as these freshmen turn into battle-tested sophomores, this team is going to be dangerous!
#BearDown

GREAT WIN!

Arizona has moved up to No. 5 in NET, No. 5 in KenPom, #4 in Evan Miya. 

Michigan is No. 1 in all 3.