After starting out the season 23-0, Arizona Basketball has since lost two of three games, all against ranked teams. But the difficulty doesn’t get any better, with the Wildcats taking on No. 2 Houston in battle of the top two teams in the Big 12.
With the Cougars coming off its own loss at Iowa State, look for them to bounce back at home in a key battle. Here are some keys to the game for Arizona to get a massive win and be on top of the Big 12 standings.
1. The “other” key freshman forward without Peat
The Wildcats will be without key first-year forward Koa Peat (13.8 ppg and 5.4 rpg) due to a lower-body injury. Not having him against one of the better interior defenses in the nation is certainly a big blow but they do have other frontcourt options, including Tobe Awaka and Motiejus Krvias. The key player to watch is another freshman, Ivan Kharchenkov, another double-digit scorer who, in 35 minutes last game against BYU, had 18 points and seven rebounds. Arizona could certainly use another effort like that against the next group of Cougars.
2. Another big game from Anthony Dell’Orso
Speaking of the BYU game, the leading scorer overall happened to be Dell’Orso, who scored a season-high 22 points off the bench on 4/8 shooting from deep. He’s struggled overall this year, especially with his shooting but without Peat, the need for him to get going is greater than ever, particularly in a game where baskets from inside the arc could be hard to come by.
3. Burries vs Kingston in the backcourt
While Peat has been fantastic overall, the freshman who leads Arizona in scoring is Brayden Burries, averaging 15.5 ppg. The 6’4 guard will be going up against Houston’s Kingston Flemings (16.6 ppg), another dynamic freshman player who has had a 42-point outing against Texas Tech. While Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp are also key Cougars to watch in the backcourt, Flemings is the one who is most likely to go off and who the Wildcats need to worry about the most.