It didn’t take long for Chase Budinger to make an impact with the No. 15 Arizona basketball team.

The freshman forward earned Pacific 10 Conference Player of the Week honors in just his second week in a Wildcat uniform, averaging 25.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in two Arizona wins.

“”I think it’s a great honor for Chase,”” said UA assistant coach Josh Pastner. “”It’s also a great honor for his entire teammates too, because not only did Chase play really well and deserved the honor, but his teammates played really well to help get the honor too, so it was good both ways.””

Budinger scored 32 points in the win over NAU Wednesday, including 23 in the first half, good for the seventh-best total ever from an Arizona freshman. He was also the first freshman to hit 30 points in 33 years. He made 11-of-15 field goals and 5-of-6 3s in the contest.

He also scored 19 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists in Sunday’s win over New Mexico State.

The hot start comes as no surprise to Pastner.

“”He’s good enough be at that level right away, so we were expecting good things from him from the beginning,”” he said.