It counts the same as the previous nine wins, but Arizona may have just had its most impressive performance of Big 12 play.
The 20th-ranked Wildcats outscored BYU by 10 points over the final 7-plus minutes, turning a 1-point game in front of a hostile crowd into a runaway 85-74 victory on Tuesday night. A crowd of 17,274 at the Marriott Center unleashed a few ‘U of A!’ chants in the second half, during which Arizona held the Cougars to 3 of 16 from 3 after making seven triples in the first half.
Arizona (16-6, 10-1 Big 12) remained in a tie for first place with its fifth straight victory, improving to 5-1 on the road in league play. It shot 49.2 percent, went 15 of 17 from the line and outrebounded the Cougars (15-7, 6-5) by 15.
Caleb Love had 18 points, becoming the 57th player in UA history with 1,000 points while also joining an exclusive Division I club, while Jaden Bradley and Henri Veesaar had 17 and Tobe Awaka 14 with nine rebounds. All 17 of Bradley’s points came in the second half, including 13 after he picked up his third foul with 13:29 left but didn’t come out until the final minute.
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It was a physical game, but not one with a lot of fouls, only 10 called in the first 20 minutes. Tied at 41 at the half, the physicality that hadn’t led to many calls resulted in two Arizona players getting knocked to the ground in the first 90 seconds of the second half. Trey Townsend smacked his head on the floor and then Awaka was slapped in the face, with both having to come out.
Their absence caused Arizona to go small, and BYU responded by getting to the rim multiple times. But the Wildcats matched that early offense, using a 9-0 run to lead 56-50. In that run was a layup by Love to put him over 1,000 for his UA career, and in doing so became the 12th player in Division I history to get to 1,000 at multiple schools.
Awaka returned with just over 12 minutes left and scored on a putback for a 60-56 edge but BYU scored five in a row to go back in front, a lead that was short lived after Love hit his fourth triple. That sparked a 7-0 run for a 67-61 edge with under 10 minutes to go.
The Cougars pulled within 67-66 on a Dallin Hall layup with 7:47 left but then went scoreless for more than three minutes, during which time Arizona scored nine in a row to built a 10-point lead. The Cougars went more than six minutes without a field goal, missing eight straight shots, before hitting a two garbage baskets in the final minute.
Arizona didn’t play into BYU’s defensive gameplan at the outset, taking nine of its first 12 shots from inside the 3-point line. That prompted the Cougars to switch to a 2-3 zone and force more from the outside, but the Wildcats kept trying to get into the paint, with midrange jumpers by KJ Lewis andAwaka putting them up 24-23 with 10:28 left in the first half.
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Along the way the UA had a 10-0 run that immediately followed BYU getting a gift from the officials. A moving screen on the the Cougars was reversed on replay, withBradley instead getting called for a flagrant 1 foul due to his elbow grazing BYU’s Trevin Knell on the neck.
BYU hit five of its first 11 3-pointers but then started to drive, with Egor Demin leading the way. His miss on a reverse teed it up for Keba Keita to slam home the putback for a 29-28 lead, and Demin led the Cougars with 16 points but was 7 of 20 from the field and had four of their 10 turnovers.
Love went on a personal late run, hitting a pair of 3s to tie it at 39, then his lob toVeesaar led to a tying dunk with four seconds left in the first half.
Arizona returns home for a revenge game on Saturday night, hosting No. 13 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders (18-4, 9-2) have won seven in a row.
The Week 7 matchup between K-State and Arizona State will feature two of the youngest coaches in all of college football: Kenny Dillingham and Collin Klein. They are tied for the youngest in the Power 4 conferences, and only Kirby Moore of Washington State (35) and Zach Kittley (34) are younger Division I coaches.
While Dillingham didn’t play football at Arizona State, like Klein, he is at his alma mater. An injury in his high senior year forced him to stop playing and get into coaching. He became the offensive coordinator at Chaparral High School at 21 years old, and was hired just two years later by Mike Norvell as an offensive analyst at Arizona State. He went back to Tempe in 2023, after spending the previous season as the offensive coordinator at Oregon.
Both of these guys are looking to lead their alma maters to a Big 12 Championship, and this is one of those games that could be pivotal in that pursuit.
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K-State Early Opponent Preview Series: Nicholls| Washington State| Tulane| Cincinnati| Houston| Kansas
Offense
Quarterback Sam Leavitt wasn’t able to live up to the hype after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 Championship in 2024, and he announced he was transferring to LSU during the off-season. Dillingham and his staff were quick to fill the vacany, as they picked up former Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley in the transfer portal.
Boley was the highest-rated quarterback to ever commit to Kentucky, as he was a consensus 4-star recruit. He had an up-and-down freshman year in 2025, as he threw for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In a loss to Tennessee, he showed off the talent by throwing for 330 yards and five touchdowns.
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The offense lost two great playmakers in Kaleek Brown and Jordan Tyson. Brown was one of the best running backs in the Big 12, as he rushed for 1,141 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tyson had to deal with injuries, but he still had 61 catches for 788 yards and eight touchdowns and ended up going No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints in the 2026 NFL Draft.
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One guy who could make a strong impact in the Arizona State offense is Boston College transfer Reed Harris. He had 39 catches for 673 yards and five touchdowns. He is a matchup nightmare, as he towers over defensive backs with his 6-foot-5 frame. He plays a style similar to Tyson, and he stands three inches taller and 17 pounds heavier.
Defense
There are a lot of changes on the defense at Arizona State, but defensive lineman C.J. Fites is a player who is capable of being an anchor on a defense. He took a major leap last season, finishing the year with 27 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He was named a preseason All-Big 12 defensive tackle and is a guy who figures to hear his name in the 2027 NFL Draft. Fite’s presence will force offenses to throw double-teams at him, and should open up opportunities for others to get after the quarterback.
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The two leading tacklers last year were linebackers Jordan Crook and Keyshaun Elliott, who had 101 and 98 tackles, respectively. With both of these players gone, Martell Hughes is a guy who the Sun Devils will need to step up.
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While there were losses in the off-season, the Sun Devils’ secondary has a chance to be one of the better units in the country. They bring back two very talented safeties in Adrian Wilson and Jessiah McGrew. The cornerback duo of Rodney Bimage Jr. and Montana Warren was good, but the arrival of LSU transfer Ashton Stamps.
He made major news last year after he hit the transfer portal after playing in only one game against Louisiana Tech. While it was a weird year, he is the type of talent that could give the Sun Devils the best secondary in the Big 12.
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Schedule
In today’s college football, many teams are becoming hesitant to take big challenges during the non-conference season. However, that isn’t the case with the Sun Devils, as they go to College Station to take on Texas A&M in Week 2. After that game, the schedule lightens up. Including the matchup against K-State, four of Arizona State’s next five games will be at home.
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The challenging part of the Sun Devils’ conference schedule is that some of their toughest matchups are on the road. They have road trips at Texas Tech, BYU, and Arizona, who are looked at as contenders in the Big 12.
Outlook
Dillingham has been outstanding early in his tenure in Tempe. After going 3-9 in his first year in 2023, he helped lead the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff during the 2024 season. Last year, they finished the year 8-5, despite losing quarterback Sam Leavitt early in the year.
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The Big 12 is wide-open, and the Sun Devils once again to have the pieces to compete for a spot in the conference championship.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, October, 24 Time: TBD TV: TBD Location: Mountain America Stadium Series history: Arizona State leads the all-time series, 6-1. The Sun Devils have dominated this series, and won the most recent game 24-14 in 2024. The only time the Wildcats have knocked off Arizona State was in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
Two Arizona Public Enemy concerts in one year? As Chuck D. might say, bring the noise.
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After a searing set in February at Tempe’s Innings Festival, the legendary hip-hop group will return to metro Phoenix on Saturday, Oct. 24, to perform as part of the Arizona State Fair’s concert series.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. inside the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum with no opening act.
Public Enemy joins a growing lineup of artists set to perform at the 2026 Arizona State Fair, which runs weekends from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.
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Previously announced Coliseum Concert Series performers include alt-rockers Gin Blossoms on Friday, Oct. 2, R&B/pop star Becky G on Friday, Oct. 9 and punk favorites The Offspring on Friday Oct. 16.
Few hip-hop acts are as iconic as Public Enemy. Fronted by Chuck D. and Flavor Flav, the group has performed since the early ‘80s and has spent decades mixing politically charged lyrics with fierce bests on classic tracks like “Fight the Power,” “Bring the Noise” and “Welcome to the Terrordome.”
Public Enemy’s upcoming concert marks the first time the iconic hip-hop act has performed at the Arizona State Fair and their latest in a series of Valley gigs. It also continues a decades-long history of Valley performances.
Over the years, Public Enemy has played venues large and small across metro Phoenix, from arenas and stadium shows to concert halls Tempe’s Marquee Theatre. The group also famously staged an impromptu performance at the long-running local hip-hop event The Blunt Club back in 2006.
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Public Enemy performs at Innings Festival on Feb. 22, 2026.
When do Arizona State Fair concert tickets go on sale?
Tickets for Gin Blossoms and Russell Dickerson are already available through azstatefair.com/concerts.
Tickets for Public Enemy at the fair go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday through azstatefair.com/concerts. A presale for subscribers to the Fair Fandom newsletter begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Reserved-seat upgrades are available for all four concerts. Each concert ticket also includes admission to the Arizona State Fair.
VIDEO: Hundreds of loved ones and first responders gathered Saturday to celebrate the life of Nicholas Hutcherson, an Arizona wildland firefighter killed late last month while battling a wildfire in Colorado.
Hutcherson was part of a Helitack crew trained to respond to remote areas and contain wildfires before they spread.
He was one of three wildland firefighters killed June 27.
His father, Ron Hutcherson, said his son sent him a text message the morning he died, saying he was on his way to a fire and would try to call that evening.
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“The text included a picture from inside his Helitack helicopter,” Ron Hutcherson said. “One of his crew members had a Snoopy on their helmet — he knew how much me and my wife loved Snoopy.”
That evening, a call came — but not from Nicholas.
Saturday, Ron Hutcherson read a letter addressed to his son, recounting their shared memories — including the moment a young Nicholas fell in love with the fire department.
