TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona freshman Koa Peat burst onto the national scene in his college debut, scoring 30 points against reigning national champion Florida .
Three Wildcats scored 20 points the next game, freshman Dwayne Aristode led the team with 18 points against Northern Arizona, then Anthony Dell’Orso dropped in 20 against UCLA.
The trend continued all season, all the Wildcats seemingly taking turns atop the scoring column.
“We’ve got a lot of guys on the team that can get theirs,” freshman guard Brayden Burries said.
Arizona opens the NCAA Tournament against Long Island on Friday in San Diego as the No. 1 seed in the West Region.
The Wildcats (32-2) are projected to make a deep run into the bracket, in large part because of their balance and versatility.
Burries leads the team at 15.9 points per game and all five starters score in double figures. Dell’Orso and big man Tobe Awaka provide an immediate lift coming off the bench, each averaging 9.0 points or more.
Seven of Arizona’s eight regular rotation players have scored at least 20 points in a game this season. All eight have led the team or shared top-scoring honors at some point on a team that swept the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles.
“I always like to be balanced,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said earlier this season. “You look at some individual stats because they tell a little bit of a part to the story, but the main one that I look at is I look at our team stats. I want to know how many points it says under Arizona, then I try to figure out how we’re getting those points. I don’t really care who they come from, or how we get them.”
Every player on Arizona’s roster seems to have a knack for knowing when to step up.
Against No. 7 Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinals, Peat and Burries had off nights shooting, so Dell’Orso and freshman Ivan Kharchenkov filled the gaps. Dell’Orso went 6 of 9 from 3 while scoring 28 points — most by an Arizona bench player since 2004 — and Kharchenkov had 17 in the 82-80 win.
“We’ve been playing with each other for a while,” Arizona guard Jaden Bradley said. “We know each other and want the ball and need the ball.”
Bradley in particular.
The senior point guard has had a knack for making big plays and key baskets late in games — none bigger than his game-winner against the Cyclones.
When Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey hit a tying 3-pointer with 15.7 seconds left, Lloyd opted to not call a timeout, knowing his players understood what to do — let Bradley do his thing.
Bradley brought the ball up the court, got his teammates into position and worked his way to the right side of the floor. Despite being heavily guarded, he hit a turnaround jumper at the buzzer that sent his teammates charging off the bench and the Wildcats into the title game.
“He kind of plays chess out there a little bit, moved the guys around where he wanted them and he got to a spot,” Lloyd said. “It’s a shot we’ve seen him hit a lot this year.”
Arizona’s balance feeds its versatility.
Lloyd has been a huge proponent of playing inside-out during his five seasons at Arizona and this year’s team has excelled at it.
The Wildcats are big at every position, anchored by 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas, with the 6-8 Peat starting next to him and the burly 6-8 Awaka coming off the bench.
With that kind of size, Arizona pounds the ball inside whenever it can, scoring 42.7 points per game in the paint, good for fourth nationally.
The Wildcats don’t take a lot of 3-pointers — their average of 16.4 attempts per game is 354th nationally — but they often hit when they do, shooting 35% from the arc.
“Versatility is important to be able to play against the different styles and different matchups,” Lloyd said. “I think our team has a lot of bandwidth to be able to win games in different ways.”
It’s worked so far and the Wildcats hope it continues all the way to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
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