Koa Peat scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and No. 2 Arizona remained unbeaten with an impressive 97-68 victory over No. 20 Auburn on Saturday night at Tucson, Ariz.
Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries scored 16 points apiece for the Wildcats (8-0), who will likely become the nation’s top-ranked team after Purdue was routed by No. 10 Iowa State earlier Saturday.
Ivan Kharchenkov recorded 12 points and eight assists and Anthony Dell’Orso added 11 points for Arizona.
Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 30 points for Auburn (7-3), which lost for the second time in four games. Keyshawn Hall added 13 points for the Tigers.
Arizona shot a torrid 61.2% from the field and was 6 of 15 from 3-point range. The Wildcats led by as many as 31.
The Tigers connected on just 33.3% of their attempts, including 6 of 25 from behind the arc. Pettiford knocked down a season-high five treys.
The Wildcats led by 12 at halftime and turned the game into a blowout with an 18-2 run to start the second half.
Burries scored five points during a half-opening 9-0 run as Arizona led 53-32. After Kevin Overton made two free throws for Auburn, the Wildcats used another 9-0 spurt and took a 62-34 lead on Bradley’s jumper with 14:59 left.
The Tigers were unable to get back into the game as Arizona continued to lead by a sizable margin the rest of the way.
Bradley scored 12 first-half points as Arizona led 44-32 at the break. The Wildcats shot 58.8% in the first half.
Pettiford scored 16 in the half for Auburn, which shot 37.1% over the first 20 minutes.
Arizona had runs of 12-0 and 15-0 while opening the double-digit first-half lead.
Pettiford’s 3-pointer gave the Tigers a 15-10 lead before the Wildcats ran off the next 12 points. Tobe Awaka’s putback capped it and gave Arizona a seven-point lead.
Auburn trailed by three after Pettiford’s layup with 9:24 remaining before the Wildcats ripped off the next 15 points. Bradley capped it with a jumper to make it 39-21 with 3:53 left.
Arizona led by 20 before the Tigers scored the final eight points of the half.
