Arizona guard Brayden Burries was named the National Freshman of the Week by Andy Katz of NCAA.com. The Big XII also named Burries its Newcomer of the Week for his performances in leading Arizona to wins over Baylor and Kansas to clinch a share of the regular season conference title.
Burries averaged 22.0 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 60.9 percent from the field, 42.9 percent on three-point attempts, made all six of his free throws and had a 70.0 eFG percentage. Burries had 24 points against Baylor and 20 points and a career high 12 rebounds versus Kansas.
The 20-point games were the ninth and 10th this season for Burries. Six of the 20-point games for Burries have come against Big XII opponents. Burries averaged 16.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.5 SPG, while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent on three-point attempts, with a 52.1 eFG percentage in February.
Burries leads Arizona averaging 15.7 PPG, tops the Arizona guards posting 4.9 RPG, is second on the Wildcats to Jaden Bradley with 78 assists and 45 steals. Bradley has 134 assists and 46 steals during the 2025-26 season. Bradley and Burries give Arizona one of the best backcourts nationally.
🏆 Weekly Awards from @TheAndyKatz 🏆
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 2, 2026
Team of the Week: Texas Tech
Player of the Week: Nick Martinelli
Freshman of the Week: Brayden Burries pic.twitter.com/SmJr9fWKBX
Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries carried Arizona
Burries and Bradley carried Arizona in the win at Baylor. In addition to the 24 points from Burries, Bradley scored 25 with six rebounds and six assists as Arizona overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to earn an 87-80 win in Waco.
Burries helped carry Arizona offensively against Kansas. While all five Wildcat starters finished in double figures against the Jayhawks, Burries was the only Arizona player with more than 13 points in the 83-61 win over Kansas.
The Big XII also named Burries to its weekly starting five with Christian Anderson and Donovan Atwell of Texas Tech, Cameron Carr of Baylor, who scored 26 points against Arizona and Moustapha Thiam of Cincinnati. Burries was the only freshman on the Big XII starting five last week.