Based on his pedigree coming in to college, it was presumed by many that Brayden Burries would step on the court and just dominate. Kind of like how Koa Peat did in his first collegiate game and most since.
Arizona
Brayden Burries goes off in top-ranked Arizona’s win over No. 12 Alabama to remain unbeaten
Not everything happens instantaneously. And some things, like Burries’ breakthrough performance on Saturday night, are worth waiting for.
The freshman guard scored a career-high 28 points, fueling top-ranked Arizona to a 96-75 win over No. 12 Alabama in Birmingham. The Wildcats (9-0) earned their fifth win this season over a ranked opponent, matching the 1987-88 team that also went 5-0 in nonconference games against ranked foes.
Burries, who started heating up a few weeks ago and had averaged 17 points over the previous three games, was 11 of 19 from the field and drained five of Arizona’s 10 3-pointers. His performance was especially big because fellow freshman Koa Peat struggled with foul trouble, finishing with a career-low five points in 20 minutes, while Jaden Bradley also had to sit for an extended period in the second half becauise of fouls.
Bradley and Motiejus Krivas scored 14 apiece, with Krivas pulling down 14 rebounds, while Tobe Awaka had 15 boards as Arizona dominated Alabama 52-32 on the glass. The Wildcats had a 22-3 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to a 15-2 advantage in second chance points.
Alabama (7-3) got 24 points from Labaron Philon and 21 from Latrell Wrightstell Jr., with that duo going 15 of 28 including 6 of 12 from 3. But the Crimson Tide, who began 7 of 13 from 3, made only five more the rest of the way while the UA’s 38.5 percent shooting from outside was actually better.
Arizona was down 41-39 at the half, the first time it has trailed after 20 minutes this season. The Wildcats were back in front within two minutes and built a 49-43 lead thanks to a 10-0 run, but during that stretch Peat and Bradley each picked up their third foul.
Yet somehow, Arizona nearly tripled its lead with that duo on the bench.
The UA led 55-48 with 14:01 to go whenAwaka was called for a flagrant foul after Alabama coach Nate Oats appealed on a play that saw the Crimson Tide called for a foul. Both teams made 1 of 2 free throws from that, but then the Wildcats scored the next 11 with their defense fueling the charge.
Back-to-back steals by Ivan Kharchenkov and Burries led to transition baskets, with Burries lobbing to Awaka for a dunk and then scoring seven straight to put the UA up 67-49 with 11:22 remaining.
Kharchenkov had 10 points and five steals, most by an Arizona freshman since KJ Lewis had five two seasons ago.
Burries fourth 3 put the Wildcats up 20 and his fifth made it 75-54 with nine minutes left. Alabama hit back-to-back 3s for the first time since seven minutes left in the first half to get within 82-65 but got no closer.
Arizona built a 19-12 lead on a 3-point play by Burries but Alabama’s outside shooting got it right back into it. A 7-0 run put the Tide up 26-22 midway through the first half.
Alabama’s 7th made 3 put it up 37-30 but then went cold, allowing the UA to retake the lead. A 9-0 run with seven straight from Bradley and then capped by a Peat jumper put the Wildcats up 39-37 with 1:51 left in the half.
Two late baskets by the Crimson Tide put it back in front at the break.
Arizona returns home to take on Abilene Christian on Tuesday night before facing San Diego State in Phoenix next Saturday.
On today’s Digital Pregame Show presented by Little Caesars, J.B Long, D’Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew preview the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. The trio discuss key players to watch, game predictions, and more. Tune in for kickoff at 1:25pm PT on FOX.
Arizona State is bringing in Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley after he played 10 full games as a redshirt freshman in 2025, FootballScoop’s John Brice first reported with SunDevilSource’s Chris Karpman confirming.
He gives the Sun Devils a signal-caller with three years of eligibility who had major flashes as a young starter in the SEC, including a career-high 330 yards and five touchdown passes on 74.3% passing against Tennessee on Oct. 25.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Boley had 2,160 yards (65.8%), 15 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions on the season with 85 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
He was expected to take a two-day visit beginning on Saturday, but he committed before getting to the second day.
ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham extended an offer to Boley as a high school junior while he was the 24th quarterback in the 2024 class and the coach was serving as offensive coordinator at Oregon.
Dillingham took more of an active role in the offense during the Sun Bowl on Wednesday, and he said postgame recent changes in administration have allowed him to focus more on football. It would make sense the active role carries over to the development of Boley.
He gets to ASU after the departure of Sam Leavitt, who has fittingly been linked to Kentucky in what could be a 1-for-1 transfer swap of quarterbacks.
More about ASU transfer QB addition Cutter Boley
The youngest SEC quarterback to get substantial time this season, Boley played mostly as a game manager with quick passes behind or near the line of scrimmage.
His six big-time throws — tracked by PFF as passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tight window” — were tied for last among 15 qualified SEC passers.
His 18 turnover-worthy plays, another PFF-tracked stat, were tied for fourth out of 15.
Comparing the stats to ASU’s quarterbacks this season, Leavitt had 18 big-time throws and 12 turnover-worthy plays in seven games. Jeff Sims had eight big-time throws and nine turnover-worthy plays in eight contests.
Because he has three years of eligibility remaining, Boley could eventually have to compete with young ASU quarterbacks Cam Dyer and Jake Fette, who will be redshirt and true freshmen, respectively, in 2026.
Weird things have happened to Arizona in Salt Lake City in recent years. In 2022, an unbeaten Wildcats squad fresh off a dominant performance at the Maui Invitational laid an egg against Utah, and two years later the UA needed triple overtime to get past the Utes.
No such drama this time around.
Top-ranked Arizona jumped out to a 17-point lead before the second media timeout and then coasted to a 97-78 win at Utah on Saturday afternoon to open Big 12 play.
The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) saw their streak of wins by at least 20 points end at eight, tying the school record set in 1928-29. But the victory was no less dominant than the previous seven, with the UA shooting 53.6 percent, finishing plus-13 on the boards and again getting five scorers in double figures.
Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley led the way with 18 points apiece, Awaka going 6 of 7 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3 while adding 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Bradley was 7 of 11 from the field and added five assists.
Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 for Arizona, which scored in the 90s for the 10th time this season including eight of the last nine games.
Utah (8-6, 0-1) got 26 points from Terrence Brown and 15 each from Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry but shot 44.3 percent overall and just 5 of 17 from 3. The Utes turned it over 12 times, leading to 18 points for the Wildcats, who had 11 steals for their seventh game with at least 10 swipes.
The UA led 58-39 at halftime, its most points in the first half of a conference game since dropping 63 on ASU in 1998. That offensive explosion did not immediately carry over to the second half, though, as Arizona didn’t make its first post-halftime field goal until 17:06 left.
But then things went back to normal, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 70-46 with 13:56 to go. Utah followed with a 12-3 run to get within 15 but that was the closest it would get.
The only real drama down the stretch was if Arizona would again win by 20. It led by 21 after a Burries basket with 51 seconds remaining but Bradley fouled Utah’s Brown with 49.8 seconds to go in order to let backups come in and Brown made two free throws.
Utah scored the game’s opening basket and then Arizona followed with 14 in a row, which included a few baskets off Ute turnovers. Six of those points were byKharchenkov, who scored twice off steals.
The rout appeared to be on early, withAwakanailing a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-10 with 12:16 left in the first half. But the UA went three minutes without a field goal, allowing Utah to cut the deficit to single digits.
A second-chance 3 by Brown got the Utes within 34-26 with 7:49 left in the half. But Arizona righted the ship on both ends, using a 10-0 run (with another Awaka 3) to build a 46-28 advantage. The Wildcats made their final six shots before the break, shooting 61.1 percent overall in the first half.
The UA plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Kansas State. K-State (9-5, 0-1) fell 83-73 at home to No. 10 BYU on Saturday.
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