Brayden Burries Improving With Time

Burries has played 26 minutes per game, but scoring just 9.8 points per game with 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals. The freshman is shooting 38.2% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc.

Arizona is 6-0 and has played some of the best teams in the country to this point. The Wildcats have taken down Florida, UCLA and UConn, all on the road. Everyone on the team has had a moment leading the team, including Burries, but he has yet to become the consistent shooter he is expected to be.

Against Denver, Burries may have turned a corner. He scored a team-high 20 points while adding seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

Arizona's freshmen combined to score 72 points in the Wildcats' 103-73 victory. The game was out of reach fairly quickly thanks to the young guys. Burries did his part, shooting 7-of-13 from the field and knocking down a trio of triples.

Tommy Lloyd has been patient with his star guard as he adjusts to the speed of the college game. Now, he hopes those reps will begin to pay off.

"He just needs to continue to take at-bats and take swings, and he'll figure it out," Lloyd said after the game. "He had a lot of really good parts of the game today, but the cool thing is, there are so many things he can continue to get better at that. I was really happy with how he went about today."

Those reps against top teams could come in handy. In Arizona's three resume wins, Burries shot jsut 21.1% from the field and had five turnovers. The struggles made him an unreliable piece to leave on the floor in those big games, but maybe they were necessary growing pains to become a valuable piece down the line.

"I'm trying to get more comfortable, be more aggressive, and not help off as much," Burries said. "The most important thing is it's just experience going through games. Getting the experience of it early on as the season goes on, so by the time we hit later on in conference and March, we'll be ready for it."

Burries dropped 18 points against Utah Tech in Arizona's home opener, but hasn't scored more than nine points in any other game, besides facing Denver.

"He’s a freshman, and experience is a great teacher," Lloyd said. "I think he’s learning, and we always talk about committing to the process and understanding that our view is we’re trying to build over the course of the season. Guys get better, guys play better. And sometimes you can point to a single thing, and sometimes you can just say, it’s just an accumulation of experience. Brayden works really hard, and I’m happy he got some results today.”

At least for Burries, he's not feeling the pressure as he tries to break through the struggles. Arizona has other guys who can keep the offense flowing, allowing the freshman the time to establish his identity with the Wildcats, and stay loose at the same time.

“Most importantly was actually I’m just having fun, like so much fun winning with my teammates," Burries said.

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