Ivan Kharchenkov, Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell'Orso and Brayden Burries were ironmen for Arizona in their 73-66 win at Houston on Saturday. Kharchenkov played a team-high 39 minutes on Saturday, followed by Bradley 37, Dell'Orso 34 and Burries 31 for shorthanded Arizona.
Arizona was without Dwayne Aristode and Koa Peat on Saturday. Motiejus Krivas fouled out after playing 25 minutes and Tobe Awaka was called for his fifth foul after only 17 minutes. Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd had to get creative with his lineups.
With Awaka and Krivas in foul trouble throughout the game, Kharchenkov had to play significant minutes against Houston at power forward, away from his usual position of small forward. Lloyd discussed Kharchenkov moving to PF out of neccessity turned into a mismatch advantage for Arizona.
Kharchenkov scored 16 points on five out of 11 from the field, one out of three on three-point attempts and five of six from the free throw line with nine rebounds, four offensive, three assists and one steal. Kharchenov tipped the ball twice that resulted in a rebound and a steal for teammates.
Arizona, BYU, Texas Tech. All dealt with brutal injury issues this week. All are thriving on this on Saturday. Great coaching staff's, multiple superstars, and improved defensive lineup combinations goes a long way. #Big12
— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) February 22, 2026
Jaden Bradley leading the way
Bradley made six of 17 shots from the field, missed all three of his three-point attempts and was five out of 10 from the free throw line, but had four rebounds, four assists and one steal with one turnover against Houston on Saturday. The sole turnover as the primary ball handler for Arizona is the most impressive stat from Bradley on Saturday.
Dell'Orso and Kharchenkov combined for 78 Points, 23 rebounds, seven steals and five assists while making 28 out of 52 field goal attempts and nine out of 21 three-point shots in the wins over BYU and Houston this week. Without Dell'Orso and Kharchenkov, Arizona likely loses to BYU and Houston.
FINAL: No. 4 Arizona 73, No. 2 Houston 66. In Houston.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 21, 2026
Truly gutsy performance. On the road, no Peat, no Aristode, Burries not 100%. Dell'Orso and Ivan Kharchenkov stepped up again. Jaden Bradley clutch.
2nd-half scoring struggles cost Houston (again).pic.twitter.com/7XfZJaATWL
Dell'Orso set his Arizona high of 22 points for the second consecutive game against Houston with three rebounds and four steals on eight of 14 from the field, two of five on three-point attempts and four of six from the free throw line.
Burries scored seven points on one out of five from the field, missed his only three-point attempts and made five out of eight from the free throw line with four rebounds and two assists while still recovering from an illness.
Aristode did not make the trip with Arizona to Texas. Peat is with Arizona, but will not play against Baylor on Tuesday. Arizona needs Awaka and Krivas to stay out of foul trouble against Baylor to at least primarily have a seven-man rotation against the Bears.