Nineteen days ago, Arizona walked into Allen Fieldhouse and suffered its first loss of the season to Kansas despite star freshman Darryn Peterson being ruled out. Days later, Arizona lost again to Texas Tech at home despite almost leading almost the entire second half. Those losses caused the Wildcats to plummet in the next AP Top 25 poll.
Since that moment, Arizona has gotten back on track with wins over BYU, Houston and Baylor. On Saturday, No. 2 Arizona extended its winning streak to four with an 84-61 win over No. 14 Kansas despite a push from the Jayhawks that made it close midway through the second half before Arizona went on a 16-0 run to put the game away.
Arizona had a 19-0 run during the opening minutes of the game, which set the tone. All five of Arizona’s starters scored at least 10 points, which included star freshman Brayden Burries recording his third double-double of the season (20 points, 12 rebounds).
With the win, Arizona clinched at least a share of the Big 12 title and can clinch the title outright with a win over No. 4 Iowa State next week. The Wildcats are on track to be the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City — even if there is a tie at the top — because of the head-to-head tiebreaker over Houston.
This is the third consecutive season that someone other than Kansas captured the Big 12 regular-season title. During its first two seasons as a member of the Big 12, Houston went 34-4 against conference opponents and captured back-to-back regular-season titles. Arizona finished tied for third (14-6) during its first season as a member of the Big 12 last season and is 14-2 (27-2 overall) this year.
Kansas (20-7, 11-5 Big 12) sits in fifth place in the Big 12 standings entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Jayhawks will need to win out against Arizona State and Kansas State and get some help to finish in the top four of the standings, which means a double-bye in the Big 12 Tournament.
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Arizona’s dynamic freshmen duo has been key to the Big 12 title
Part of the reason Arizona has been so good this season is its dynamic duo of Koa Peat and Burries. Peat, who missed the last three games due to a lower-leg injury, returned to the lineup and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Peat, of course, had one of the best debuts in college basketball history earlier this season against reigning national champion Florida when he finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Peat struggled during the loss against Kansas earlier this month. He finished with six points (on 2 of 11 from the floor) and five rebounds. This weekend was a different story. While Peat didn’t play his best against Kansas in the first meeting, Burries was the best player on the floor for the Wildcats. He scored 25 points in that game.
Over the course of the season, Burries has established himself as a legit candidate to be a lottery pick this summer. His shooting (37.2% from the 3-point line) and versatility make him one of the best first-year players in the sport. What is even more impressive is that he got off to a slow start during the first few weeks of the season.
Since that moment, he has been nails and a huge reason why Arizona is on track to earn a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday.
Entering the weekend, Burries was Arizona’s leading scorer, followed by Jaden Bradley (13.9) and Peat (13.8). If Burries and Peat finish 1-2 in scoring for Arizona, the Wildcats could become the fourth No. 1 seed with freshmen as their top-two scorers. The last time that happened was last year, when Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel finished top two in scoring for Duke. The other times that happened? Kentucky during the 2009-10 season (John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins) and Duke during the 2018-19 campaign (Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett).
This has been one of the greatest freshman classes in college basketball history, and there are not many duos better than Peat and Burries.
Peterson remains a mystery for Kansas
One of the biggest storylines of this entire season has been Peterson’s availability. After missing the first matchup against Arizona due to flu-like symptoms, Peterson played and had arguably his best all-around performance in over a month.
Entering this game, Peterson had just five total assists during his last eight games. He finished with three while logging 31 minutes. Peterson’s efficiency (8 of 21) wasn’t amazing, but he did manage to finish with 24 points — his most since scoring 26 against Baylor in just 23 minutes.
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During his last three games against Arizona, Houston and Cincinnati, Peterson has played at least 30 minutes. That’s a notable development because in his previous two games, he logged less than 25 minutes — including just 18 against Oklahoma State earlier this month.
The projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft has undeniable talent. He has taken more of an on-ball role as of late, which is doing wonders for his game. The best version of Kansas will involve a heavy workload from Peterson on both ends of the floor over the next few weeks.
The Jayhawks should hope it’s not too late for all parties to get up to speed because there is still potential for a deep run in March.
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