Kansas outscored Arizona 38-23 over the final 17:02 to give the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 82-78 at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night. Arizona drops to 23-1. Arizona will host Kansas on February 28 with a chance to avenge the loss.
Brayden Burries scored 25 points on 9-18 from the field, 4-7 on three-point attempts, with five rebounds and Motiejus Krivas had 14 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and six blocks, but five turnovers to help keep Arizona in the game. Ivan Kharchenkov scored 13 as the only other Arizona player in double figures.
Arizona was hindered by Jaden Bradley and Koa Peat, each scoring six points on a combined 4-19 from the field. Kansas was able to compensate for playing without star freshman Darryn Peterson. The Jayhawks were led by forward Flory Bidunga, who scored 23 points on 8-11 from the field with 10 rebounds.
Melvin Council Jr. also scored 23 points for Kansas, but made only 6-25 shots from the field. Bryson Tiller scored 18 and Jamar McDonald scored 10 as the other Jayhawks in double figures. Kansas made 21 out of 25 from the free-throw line and Arizona converted 8-14.
Arizona defense was elite in loss
Arizona held Kansas to 40.6 percent from the field and five out of 15 on three-point attempts. Other than Council Jr., Kansas shot 50 percent from the floor. Kansas was competitive against Arizona inside which most opponents have not been able to do this season.
Arizona outrebounded Kansas 45-41 and had a 42-40 advantage on points in the paint. Kansas had 19 second-chance points to 16 for Arizona. Kansas was able to outlast Arizona despite playing mostly a six-man rotation. All but eight minutes were played by six Kansas players.
Arizona scored the first six points of the game. Kansas fought back, but did not lead in the first half as Arizona led 45-42 at the intermission. After rallying from their 11-point deficit, Kansas did not take its first lead until Biduna scored to put the Jayhawks ahead 65-64 with 9:32 remaining. Arizona never led again.
Arizona has four days off before they host number 16 Texas Tech on Saturday. Texas Tech hosts Colorado on Saturday. The gauntlet will continue next week when Arizona hosts BYU on February 18 and plays at Houston on February 21 in what could be the biggest game this season.