Arizona

3 Winners From ASU’s Overtime Win Over Arizona

Published

4 days ago

February 15, 2026

3 Winners From ASU’s Overtime Win Over Arizona

TEMPE — The Arizona State Sun Devils moved to 21-6 and 8-6 in the Big 12 on Saturday afternoon following a dramatic 75-69 win over Arizona that was won in a five-minute overtime period.

The Sun Devils faced adversity going into the game, as starting guard Last-Tear Poa was ruled out on Friday night’s player availability report – although the squad pulled through to secure another key win.

Arizona State on SI names three major winners from the contest in Tucson below.

Arizona State Stars

Arizona State’s season has been highlighted by a balanced, well-coached roster that plays well together.

Ultimately, the team knows where the ball is going in crunch time despite the interconnected nature of the main rotation – McKinna Brackens and Gabby Elliott delivered in incredible fashion.

Brackens knocked down a pull-up mid-range jump shot with just 3.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter that sent the game to overtime, while Elliott knocked down a three-point look on the wing off of a Brackens assist to put Arizona State up 70-67 at the 2:18 mark of overtime.

Elliott finished with 22 points that was rooted in an efficient 4-8 mark from behind the arc, while Brackens paced the team with 24 points – also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Kansas State Wildcats forward Nastja Claessens (4) steals the ball away from ASU Sun Devils forward McKinna Brackens (21) at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Feb. 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Molly Miller

The first year of the new era under Miller’s leadership continues to be a resounding success.

The win over Arizona not only marked the first time the program’s bitter rival had been swept since the 2017-18 season, it also meant Miller became the most successful first-year coach in the history of the program – winning 21 games and counting to this point.

Miller’s hard-nosed philosophy, intentional roster building, and curation of a battle-tested staff have translated to the Sun Devils becoming a serious competitor in the Big 12 instantly – after years of struggles that were previously endured.

Arizona State’s Tournament Chances

The Sun Devils came into the weekend firmly on the tournament bubble, with ESPN’s Charlie Creme placing them in “last four in” territory.

A loss would have been disastrous for the Sun Devils’ tournament profile, as they already lost to Cincinnati going into the matchup. Avoiding this loss continued to add to their lofty win total, while also steadying the overall metrics that measure whether or not they are a tournament-level squad.

Arizona State returns to action on Wednesday night against Audi Crooks and Iowa State in what will be another opportunity to pick up a massive win.

ASU Sun Devils guard Marley Washenitz (11) looks to pass the ball against the Kansas State Wildcats at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Feb. 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Read more on the bold strategy that head coach Bobby Hurley employed with comments on 1/21 here, and on why Arizona State may have saved the season with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday here..

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Arizona

Arizona bench overpowers No. 23 BYU to snap 2-game skid

Published

6 hours ago

February 19, 2026

Press Room

Arizona bench overpowers No. 23 BYU to snap 2-game skid

PROVO — Down a pair of starters in Arizona’s Koa Peat and BYU’s Richie Saunders, it was the Wildcats’ bench who came up big Wednesday night.

The Cougars? Not so much.

Anthony Dell’Orso scored a season-high 22 points, and Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points and seven rebounds as No. 4 Arizona snapped a two-game losing skid with a 75-68 win over BYU at the McKay Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Jaden Bradley added 12 points and 10 assists for the Wildcats (24-2, 11-2 Big 12), who got 11 points from Brayden Burries and outscored the Cougars’ bench 26-6.

AJ Dybantsa poured in a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds and two assists to lead BYU (19-7, 7-6 Big 12); and Robert Wright III scored 13 with four rebounds and three assists.

Kennard Davis Jr. had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Keba Keita pulled down nine boards for the Cougars.

Dybantsa set the BYU freshman scoring record, moving ahead of Danny Ainge’s 632 points while averaging 21.2 points in 1977-78.

But when it came to finding answers from an increasingly shortened rotation, BYU coach Kevin Young was at a loss.

In short, absent Richie Saunders after the senior suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the first minute of last Saturday’s overtime win over Colorado, the Cougars need to answer the bell.

Dell’Orso rang it for them.

Dell’Orso scored 15 points off the bench including a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to help the Wildcats lead by as much as 39-33 just before the break.

Dybantsa totaled 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Wright scored 11 to help the Cougars pull within four.

But Dell’Orso capped his 5-of-9 shooting first half with his third 3-pointer at the buzzer to help the Wildcats to a 42-35 halftime lead.

“Richie brings a lot of scoring, a lot of aggressiveness,” Dybantsa said after the game. “So I just tried to mimic what he gave us and try to do what he does.”

BYU made just 3-of-10 from the field to open the second half, and Arizona shot up to 57% to take a 13-point lead on Kharchenkov’s jumper eight minutes in.

Dybantsa had 19 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven, 73-66, with two minutes remaining. Davis capped a 7-0 run in just over 90 seconds to pull the Cougars within 73-68 in the final minute.

But Dell’Orso punctuated Arizona’s win with an open dunk off a turnover to give the home team a win in the series for the first time in five tries.

“We’ve just got competitive guys. I think we have a lot of belief in ourselves, no matter what situation we find ourselves in,” Young said. “And that was the case tonight against a really good basketball team.

“You have to give them a lot of credit, because they had a lot of guys who stepped up.”

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Arizona

ASCS Notes: Central Arizona Raceway Debut

Published

19 hours ago

February 18, 2026

Press Room

ASCS Notes: Central Arizona Raceway Debut

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — This weekend, the American Sprint Car Series kicks off a double dose of desert sprint car action with its debut at Central Arizona Raceway. The inaugural Sonoran Clash hits the high-banked, three-eighths-mile oval for the first of back-to-back weekends of racing this Saturday and Sunday night, Feb. 21–22, before returning the following weekend, […]

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Arizona

BYU Basketball: Availability Report At No. 4 Arizona

Published

1 day ago

February 18, 2026

Press Room

BYU Basketball: Availability Report At No. 4 Arizona

BYU basketball goes on the road for a rematch opportunity against one of the top teams in the country.

The Cougars are gearing up to face the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats on Wednesday night at the McKale Center in Tucson.

It will be the first game this season where No. 23 BYU will be without star guard Richie Saunders.

Saunders suffered a season-ending ACL injury in BYU’s overtime win over Colorado this past Saturday.

It’s a significant loss, as Saunders was the 10th-leading scorer in the Big 12 Conference this season, averaging 18 points per game.

BYU still has stars AJ Dybantsa and Rob Wright III to carry the workload, but they will need the supporting cast to step up.

Their first crack at life without Saunders will be against Arizona, which, like BYU, will be without one of its top players on Wednesday night.

Freshman Koa Peat is out with a muscle strain in his lower leg area. He sustained the injury in last Saturday’s loss to Texas Tech.

Koa Peat has a muscle strain in his lower leg area. He will be re-evaluated next week and will return to the court when cleared by the medical staff.
Dwayne Aristode (illness) will also not be available Wednesday against BYU.
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) February 18, 2026

Arizona will also be without Dwayne Aristode, who is battling an illness. That significantly shrinks Arizona’s bench, reducing it to a six-man rotation.

Arizona has dropped its past two games. The Wildcats have not lost three consecutive games in the Tommy Lloyd era (since 2021).

BYU enters the game with a 19-6 overall record, and 7-5 mark in Big 12 play.

BYU basketball availability report against No. 4 Arizona

OUT

#4 Brody Kozlowski
#10 KJ Perry (redshirting)
#12 Nate Pickens
#15 Richie Saunders
#25 Dawson Baker
#33 Xavion Staton

Arizona Wildcats report

OUT

#2 Dwayne Aristode
#10 Koa Peat

No. 23 BYU at No. 4 Arizona

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Tip-off: 7 p.m. (MST)

TV: ESPN

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

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