Arizona

Arizona Adaptive Golf Open Showcases Ability

Published

12 months ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Arizona Adaptive Golf Open Showcases Ability

AZ Adaptive Golf category winners celebrate victory,

Candace Oehler

Golf Is For Everyone

Unseasonably windy and chilly weather didn’t deter the nearly 60 golfers competing at Papago Golf Course in the inaugural Arizona Adaptive Open Championship, created and run by the Arizona Golf Association (AZ GOLF) and presented by PING. AZ GOLF, under the leadership of Executive Director Catherine (Cat) Carmignani, made history as the first west coast association to run an adaptive golf championship.

The three-day event began with a golf clinic for local attendees with disabilities and was followed by the two-round, 36-hole championship, crowning overall men’s and women’s champions, plus winners in 15 individual adaptive golf categories.

Adaptive golf is exactly what the name implies – adapting and modifying rules or equipment for people with disabilities, based upon the person’s impairment. Classifications – G1 to G15 – include limb, amputee, neurological, multiple, seated, short stature, vision and intellectual impairments. The classification system enables golfers to compete on a level playing field against their peers.

The Arizona tournament was a year in the making and required full commitment from AZ GOLF. Staff traveled across the country visiting different adaptive events to better understand logistics and the operations behind the scenes.

Said Carmignani, who assumed her post halfway through the planning process, “Thankfully, there are a lot of national golf associations and organizations that specialize in this. So there are already trainings in place, there are already best practices in place, and an understanding of how somebody would be appropriately categorized based on their impairment. Our staff absorbed everything they possibly could and we’ve used the resources that were already in place.”

It’s Different Out Here

One of the most striking aspects of the tournament was the diversity of the field in age, impairment, skill level, gender and experience. The true spirit of adaptive golf – camaraderie and friendship, with a healthy dose of competitive fire – was on full display at Papago.

For example, seated on a hillside overlooking the 18^th green, 23-year old short stature golfer Ricky Reilly enthusiastically cheered on his rival Albert Bowker, even as he putted out to earn the victory over Ricky. The two became friends at the 2024 USGA Adaptive Open and were the only golfers competing in their category in Phoenix.

“I’m super pumped for him,” said the Syracuse native about his buddy. “Albert’s a great guy and an even better golfer.”

The adaptive golf community is a tight knit one, and competitors genuinely celebrate each other’s successes.

Explained Carmignani, “Their impairment doesn’t define them. They’re here to play really well. This is a championship event, so I think they’re looking for some hardware at the end of the day.”

Said Men’s Overall winner Ford Martin, “Everybody’s so nice to each other, so encouraging, and the people out here are inspiring for sure. That’s part of the fun of doing these events.”

Ford Martin with his first-place Men’s Overall Kachina trophy at the AZ Adaptive Open Championship,

AZ GOLF

His one-under, a seven-stroke victory over Kody Conover was his first tournament win and fourth adaptive tournament. The Nashville native competed in the G8, neurogenic category based on bilateral neurogenic club feet that completely restrict movement in his fused feet and ankles.

A former lacrosse player and undergrad coach at Vanderbilt (TN), Martin noted that his primary issue is balance, especially on uneven lies, so he focuses on tempo and finish.

Women’s Overall champion Cassie Sengul, who plays golf at Drew University (NJ), competes in G8 due to cerebral palsy. Her 10-stroke victory over University of Arizona’s (U of A) Amanda Cunha was her second in a matter of weeks, following a win at the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s (GAP) inaugural Adaptive Open.

Like Ford, she struggles with rotation, balance and keeping posture in her stance. Without a coach, she admitted she’s trying to perfect her own swing and “figure it all out alone.”

“I’m probably doing stuff I shouldn’t be doing, but it works,” laughed the two-time winner.

Cassie Sengul holds her Women’s Overall first-place Kachina Trophy at the AZ Adaptive Open.

AZ GOLF

She is sure to have lots of local support at July’s 54-hole USGA Adaptive Open that takes place in Maryland, less than an hour from her home. And she hopes the partisan crowd will help propel her onto the winner’s podium, improving on her fifth-place overall finish last year.

The elite field at the Arizona Adaptive Open Championship included many golfers who competed in one or more of the three USGA Adaptive Opens, considered the Major championship for disabled golfers.

Last year’s Women’s Overall winner, Bailey Bish (G8 – Neurological) will be on hand to defend her wire-to-wire national title, but had to withdraw from the Arizona tournament prior to finishing the second round.

Amanda Cunha has won the Vision Impairment category in each of the three USGA championships and last year finished fourth overall. The native of Kaneohe, Hawaii, was diagnosed with Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, a disease that causes vision loss due to a degeneration of the optic nerve.

She began golfing at the age of five and competed regularly in junior golf leagues and state tournaments, but the visual impairment that began in her junior year of high school made for an uncertain golf future.

Thanks to the University of Arizona’s Adaptive Golf program, and the rise of adaptive golf tournaments, she can still pursue her passion.

LPGA player Sarah Schmelzel (L) with U of A adaptive golfer Amanda Cunha (R) at the AZ Adaptive Open … [+] Championship.

Candace Oehler

“To be able to continue playing with a disability has been the dream of a lifetime, to be honest. It’s given me a chance to meet people while also still being so competitive,” she explained.

With no central vision, Amanda is unable to see bunkers or flags on the greens, only large objects in the background like trees or mountains. Her dad serves as her guide, directing her aim on the fairway and lining up putts. It’s a relationship built on trust and one that was difficult to establish initially.

“There’s been a lot of growth and development,” she said of the past three years working together. “But we’re pretty much almost there where I fully trust.”

Because she can’t golf without him, the U of A subsidizes travel from Hawaii for Amanda’s father so he can be on the bag for her tournaments.

The U of A has been a leader in adaptive sports. The D1 school’s Adaptive Athletics Department has existed for more than 50 years, and launched its Adaptive Golf team in 2019, making it the first collegiate-based adaptive program in the country.

Peter Hughes, director of adaptive athletics at U of A, was on hand at the Arizona Adaptive Open, along with Dennis Schmelzel, coach of the Wildcats adaptive golf team. Dennis is the father of LPGA player and 2024 Solheim Cup team member Sarah Schmelzel, who was also on hand to cheer on the U of A players.

Members and coaches of the University of Arizona’s Adaptive Golf program. (L) Coach Dennis Schmelzel … [+] and (R) Director of Adaptive Athletics Peter Hughes.

Candace Oehler

Challenging Logistics

Putting on the first-ever Arizona Adaptive Open Championship presented daunting and unique challenges that most golf tournaments don’t face.

According to Carmignani, “The main thing is finding the right site that can be a good partner to you and understands how important it is to serve this clientele in a different way because they deserve to be served in the most appropriate way possible.”

Course set up is complex because tees must be placed according to impairment category. Yardages must be set, and rules adapted to impairment. For example, can a solo rider on a motorized cart safely get in and out of a bunker? If not, that bunker becomes out of play. And a rule that would apply to a blind golfer would be different than a rule applied to a golfer with another impairment.

Partners in Success

Partnerships were crucial in launching the inaugural Arizona Adaptive Open Championship and making it a sustainable event. Organizers even hope the event will become a qualifier for future USGA Adaptive Opens.

Papago GC, home to the Arizona State University men’s and women’s golf teams, was the perfect golf course partner. General Manager Daryl Crawford is committed to serving the community and sets an example to his peers in the golf course industry. The course holds numerous events targeted to diverse segments of the community, including Ability 360 clinics and the AZ Caddy and Leadership Academy.

The golfers fell in love with the course nestled below the scenic backdrop of Papago Buttes.

Said Ford, “Being at a course like this definitely makes it feel like a like a bigger tournament.”

He added, “And I’m amazed this is Arizona Golf Association’s first Adaptive Open because other than the USGA Adaptive Open, this was the most well put together adaptive tournament I’ve been to in terms of the course, hospitality, volunteers and the organization.”

Ricky echoed those sentiments.

“They did an absolutely amazing job putting this event on. First off, they selected a spectacular course. They put a ton of effort in and the volunteers and course staff were absolutely fabulous. They really didn’t miss anything. And they did a great job of making us feel like we’re the pros.”

PING was the official tournament sponsor. Bryan Rourke, master adaptive fitter, was on hand during the clinic to provide conforming equipment for the golfers, fitting them to make sure they were comfortable with the grips and shafts. Like professional golf, there are compliance standards in adaptive golf to ensure no players are getting an advantage.

Golfers in 15 separate impairment categories competed in the AZ Adaptive Open Golf Championship.

AZ GOLF

Phoenix-based Ability 360 provided carts for seated golfers.

And over 80 tournament volunteers gave their time and effort to help make the event a success. All completed online and onsite training prior to the start of the tournament. They learned how to talk about the different impairment categories, how to best communicate with the athletes, and how to be the best supporters possible.

Explained Carmignani, “It’s important to learn how to communicate with that population and recognize that within that population they’re all different too, because you have different impairment categories. So, you can’t treat somebody with an intellectual impairment the same as maybe an amputee. They have different ways of communicating different needs.”

Truly Growing the Game

According to the US Adaptive Golf Alliance 10 percent of persons with some disability now play golf; 22 percent of those with disabilities played golf before incurring their disability but are not playing now; and 35 percent of individuals with disabilities are currently not playing golf, but are interested in learning.

Ford Martin has a message for those who have never even considered adaptive golf.

“Give it a go. Being out here is so much fun. You don’t have to be nervous. Everybody is so welcoming and supportive. So it’s not about what you can’t do. It’s about trying. Failure’s OK. Just keep on trying.”

Concludes Carmignani, “It puts a lot of thing in things in perspective for us. We’re all about access and opportunity. Everyone should be able to enjoy the game of golf, whether you want to be competitive at it, whether you want to have fun recreationally or just make sure it’s part of your lifestyle.”

Adaptive AthleticsGolf

Source link

Click to comment

Arizona

This prominent attorney collects art to celebrate his Mexican heritage

Published

2 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

This prominent attorney collects art to celebrate his Mexican heritage

Prominent Arizona attorney Jose Cardenas possesses a large private collection of Mexican and Mexican American art.
Cardenas, who rose from humble immigrant roots, amassed the collection with his late wife, Virginia, as an embrace of their shared Mexican heritage.
He frequently opens his home to visitors for tours and events, sharing stories about the artwork and his life.

Prominent Arizona attorney Jose Cardenas loves to show off his vast collection of Mexican and Mexican American art.

But he once made a fool of himself arguing with the legendary Mexican journalist Elena Poniatowska over a piece of artwork on display in his spacious 4,000-square-foot Chandler home.

Cardenas was giving Poniatowska a tour of his art collection during a reception he hosted for the writer. She was in town giving a lecture at Arizona State University.

“This is a self-portrait of Siqueiros,” Cardenas remembers telling Poniatwoska, referring to David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of Mexico’s three most famous muralists.

Poniatowska took a look at the sketch and shook her head, “No it’s not.”

The two got into a back and forth, with Cardenas continuing to insist the man depicted in the painting was Siqueiros.

“That’s what they told me when I bought it at the gallery in San Francisco,” Cardenas remembers telling the Mexican author.

Finally Cardenas backed down, thinking, “She’s getting up in years. I’m not going to embarrass her and argue with her.”

A few days later, Cardenas was flipping through TV channels. He came across a PBS documentary about the 1970 Chicano riots in East Los Angeles. The documentary highlighted a portrait Siqueiros had painted in homage to Ruben Salazar, the Los Angeles Times journalist killed by a tear gas canister fired by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy during the protests.

Poniatowska was right. The figure in the painting was not Siqueiros, the Mexican muralist. It was indeed Ruben Salazar, the Los Angeles Times journalist, as painted by Siqueiros.

Cardenas tells this story when he gives tours of his art collection to visitors. They break out in laughter.

“You were mansplaining” one visitor told him. “No, I was being an idiot,” Cardenas said, “because why would you argue with her, of all people. She knew (Siqueiros). She wrote about him. She interviewed him. Not the person to say, ‘No, you are wrong.’”

Cardenas built prestigious career from humble roots

The personal art tours Cardenas hosts weekly at his home are peppered with similar stories that showcase his self-deprecating humor and highlight his enormous pride in his humble upbringing and Mexican heritage.

Cardenas comes from modest working-class Mexican immigrant roots. But he rose to become one of the most prominent and successful attorneys in Arizona. He has used his considerable wealth to amass what artists say is the largest collection of Mexican and Mexican-American artwork in the state, which he shares often with visitors during various events at his home, from personal tours to his annual post-Christmas bash.

Born in 1952, Cardenas is the son of an immigrant dad from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, and a Mexican-American mom. Cardenas grew up in Vegas Heights, a working-class Hispanic neighborhood west of Las Vegas that was still segregated. His father, Fortunato Cárdenas Sánchez, had a sixth-grade education. He worked as a foreman for construction company that laid pipelines. He was killed in a work accident when Cardenas was 15.

His mother, Gloria Frances Gómez Vigil, was born in a small town in northern Nevada to Mexican immigrant parents who eventually moved to Las Vegas. She only attended school through eighth grade.

After his father died, Cardenas, the second-oldest of four children, wanted to quit school and work to help his family with finances. But Cardenas was a good student, and his mother insisted he stay in school and encouraged him to attend college.

Cardenas became the first person in his family to graduate from high school and then college. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and then a law degree from Stanford.

After law school, Cardenas clerked for a federal judge in San Francisco and then moved to Arizona in 1978 to work for the powerhouse law firm Lewis and Roca. Cardenas mostly handled commercial litigation but also did pro bono work on death penalty cases. In 1999, he was named managing partner, becoming one of the few Hispanic managing partners of a major law firm in the nation.

In 2009, Cardenas left Lewis and Roca to serve as chief legal adviser and senior vice president at Arizona State University, a position he held until 2022.

For nearly 20 years, Cardenas also hosted Horizonte, a public affairs show focusing on Arizona issues through a Hispanic perspective on Arizona PBS (KAET-TV Channel 8). He stepped down in 2023. Now semi-retired, the 73-year-old Cardenas continues to serve as special senior university adviser at ASU.

Cardenas and his Mexican-born wife, Virginia, were childhood sweethearts. When Virginia turned 15, Cardenas was one of the escorts in her quinceañera coming-of-age celebration. The two then began dating in ninth grade. They married when Cardenas was 19 and Virginia was 20 by one month. She worked as a counselor at Chandler High School. She died in July 2012 of kidney cancer.

Cardenas and Virginia bought their first artwork when he was still a financially struggling law student at Stanford. The two prints Cardenas purchased from a fellow student are now among the thousands of pieces of artwork that adorn his home.

Couple made frequent trips to purchase art

Cardenas said he and Virginia were introduced to the world of Mexican and Mexican American art when they moved to Arizona and met artists Zarco and Carmen Guerrero at a party. They are the founders of Xicanindio, the original name of Xico, a nonprofit organization that promotes Latino and Indigenous art and culture.

The couple became deeply involved in the organization. Virginia became the program director for several years and Cardenas served on the board of directors, including a stint as president.

Over the years, Cardenas and Virginia traveled frequently to Mexico City, Sante Fe and San Francisco to purchase paintings, crosses, ceramics, prints and pottery that cover practically every inch of Cardenas’ ranch home in Chandler.

Cardenas said he considers the collection an embrace of the Mexican heritage he and Virginia shared.

“It’s pride,” Cardenas said during an interview at his home.

“Virginia was born in Mexico. She came here when she was eight,” Cardenas said. “And I never considered myself Mexican American because when I was growing up, those terms weren’t used. So we were Mexicans.”

After Virginia died in 2012, Cardenas commissioned East L.A.-born artist George Yepes to paint a portrait of her. Yepes is best known as the artist who painted the cover of the 1988 Grammy Award-winning album by Los Lobos, “La Pistola y El Corazón.”

At first, Yepes turned down the commission after Cardenas showed her photo of Virginia, who was known for her dazzling smile.

“I can’t do it,” Cardenas recalled Yepes saying. “She’s always smiling. I don’t do smiles.”

A few weeks later, Yepes emailed Cardenas. “I think I can do it.”

The 7-foot-tall portrait Yepes painted of Virginia now hangs in Cardenas’ living room, where it dominates one of the walls. Cardenas considers it his most treasured piece, along with a portrait by a different artist of his three grown sons when they were young.

“The funny thing about this is she was pretty short, she was barely five foot tall. This painting is seven feet. And she’s sitting down. So talk about bigger-than-life-size,” Cardenas told a group of visitors during one of his tours.

Home is an art gallery, with frequent visitors

Cardenas frequently opens his home to visitors, serving as docent as he escorts visitors from room to room, telling stories along the way about various pieces of artwork.

In addition to the personal tours, Cardenas hosts an annual open house to showcase the ofrendas he creates in honor of Dia de los Muertos. At his Day of the Dead open house in November 2025, during the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation effort, one of the ofrendas focused on immigration. The ofrenda included photos of Cardenas’ relatives from Mexico, along with numerous quotes by Pope Francis that Cardenas printed out and framed.

“Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity,” read one quote.

“It is necessary to respond to the globalization of migration with the globalization of charity and cooperation, in such a way as to make the conditions for migrants more humane,” read another.

Cardenas also hosts an annual Los Tres Reyes Magos party every January in honor of Three Kings Day, a Christian holiday that is popular in Mexico and Latino America and marks the biblical visit of the three kings to the baby Jesus. This year’s party, attended by some of the most influential people in Arizona, will be Jan. 10.

One of the most powerful pieces on display in his home is a painting Cardenas commissioned as a tribute to the victims of the 2022 mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The shooting killed 19 students and two teachers, and injured 21 others. The artwork, which Cardenas displays in his dining room, also was painted by Yepes, the artist who painted the portrait of Virginia.

The painting depicts a woman draped in an American flag, her arms and hands outstretched in the shape of a crucifix, with swords piercing her exposed heart, while doves flutter around her head, wrapped in a crown of thorns.

‘Everything they have in the collection was for them’

One of the most striking pieces is a massive Talavera ceramic jar created by artist and restauranteur Gennaro Garcia, a native of San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, who now lives in Phoenix. Garcia created the piece in Puebla, Mexico, where he studied the hand-painted Mexican ceramic artform that blends Spanish and Indigenous influences.

Cardenas had the piece shipped to his home, where he had to remove the table from his kitchen to make room for the artwork, which towers over six feet in height.

Garcia said he strived for years to have his artwork included in the Cardenas’ collection.

“As an artist, you want you want to be in in collection that you admire,” Garcia said. “His collection was already so good, and I wanted to have my name associated with those other artists” and with Virginia and Jose Cardenas as collectors.

Garcia describes the collection as a love story between the couple.

“Everything they have in the collection was for them,” Garcia said. “I always remember them standing in front of the art, talking about it, and then deciding to buy it” as a couple.

Garcia said he was not aware of a larger personal collection of Mexican and Mexican American artwork in Arizona.

“It’s the biggest one. Easy,” Garcia said.

Cristina Cardenas, a Mexican-born artist based in Tucson, agreed.

“In Arizona, to tell you the truth, I haven’t met anybody else with a bigger or more rich collection” especially of Mexican-American and Arizona artists, said Cardenas, who is not related to Jose.

She has sold numerous paintings to Cardenas. The collector also has commissioned her to paint several murals at his home, including a mural of a smiling Virginia that adorns an outdoor wall in the home’s sizable patio, and a mural of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo that greets visitors to his home.

The artist said Cardenas and Virginia have supported many artists through their collecting. They have played a role in opening the door for Latino artists to sell their work to other collectors, Cardenas said, noting that she once sold a print to former Arizona governor and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano through an introduction by Cardenas.

“It’s a commitment to represent our people, our communities, and to represent Mexico and the really highest rich cultural history that it has,” the artist said.

She noted that visitors will notice that Cardenas and Virginia have had a strong interest in collecting female figurative art. They were influential in shifting Xico artists away from depictions of low-riders and other traditional Chicano symbols toward prints and paintings that celebrate female figurative art.

Cardenas the artist, and others, often wonder what will happen to the massive collection after Cardenas is gone.

“It has to be preserved and it has to stay together. That’s my recommendation,” Cardenas the artist said.

Collection is a priceless legacy

Jose Cardenas said he isn’t sure what will become of his collection. He knows that some of the pieces will be passed down to his children and family, including the portrait of Virginia. The rest may go the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University, he said.

In the meantime, his collection continues to expand. He recently mounted two new pieces by renowned contemporary American artist Ayana Jackson, who reconstructs the portraiture of the 19th and early 20th centuries to, according to her bio, “assess the impact of the colonial gaze on the history of photography.”

The two pieces Cardenas acquired depict the artist suspended in midair in a battle stance while in character as Adelita, the Mexican female revolutionary soldier.

Source link

Arizona

Multiple freeways closed as snow moves into northern Arizona

Published

14 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Multiple freeways closed as snow moves into northern Arizona

A winter storm sweeping across the state was dumping snow and whipping up gusty winds in northern Arizona, forcing multiple highway closures and travel advisories throughout the region.

Snow moved into the high country early Jan. 8 and was expected to continue through the afternoon and evening. Flagstaff had picked up 2 to 4 inches, with snow reaching lower elevations, including Prescott and Sedona, according to the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.

“In our area we expect it to come to an end here later this afternoon and early this evening, with only an inch or two more here in the Flagstaff area,” said Brian Klimowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Flagstaff. “It’s going to continue this evening and overnight to our east.”

Snow levels dropped as a cold front moved into the region, falling from about 6,000 feet at sunrise to as low as 4,000 feet by late evening. Forecasters say heavier snow was likely this afternoon and evening as the system moves through.

“Roads are bad right now,” Klimowski said. “The highways will be very slick, and we expect conditions will remain in a deteriorated state here this afternoon to this evening, especially along and east of the I-17 corridor.”

Which highways are closed in northern Arizona?

Several major highways across the high country were closed on Jan. 8 due to winter weather and related crashes, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

As of the afternoon, the following closures were in place:

Interstate 40 eastbound at US 93 (milepost 72)
Interstate 40 eastbound at State Route 89 in Ash Fork (milepost 146)
Northbound Interstate 17 at State Route 169 (milepost 278)
State Route 64 (both directions) between mileposts 244-264

ADOT said there is no estimated reopening time for any of these highways.

Drivers can check the latest road closures and travel conditions through ADOT’s AZ511 system, with an online interactive map and mobile app. Information is available at AZ511.gov or by calling 511 from within Arizona.

Snow, wind and cold persist

Flagstaff could see snow totals around 2 to 5 inches, with more at the higher elevations. Snow will continue across eastern Arizona into the evening Jan. 8 and early on Jan. 9, including parts of Black Mesa, the Chinle Valley and the Chuska Mountains.

Gusty winds could reduce visibility, especially in areas with blowing snow. Winds will shift northerly overnight, summoning colder air as the system departs.

“It’s going to dry out,” Klimowski said. “It’s going to be cold and blustery tomorrow and then a slow warming trend through much of next week.”

Lows on Jan. 9 will be 10 to 15 degrees below normal, with wind chills near zero in the High Country. While snow will cease by Jan. 9, slick roads and hazardous conditions could remain,

“Be careful if you’re traveling tonight,” Klimowski said. “It’s going to be slick out there.”

Why does it snow so much in Flagstaff? Here’s what to know

Flagstaff may be in a state known for its scorching summers and years-long droughts, but it is one of the snowiest cities in the United States.

Hayleigh Evans writes about extreme weather and related topics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email her with story tips at hayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

(This story has been updated to add a new video).

Source link

Arizona

Arizona, career nights from Burries, Krivas beat K-State

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Arizona, career nights from Burries, Krivas beat K-State

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Brayden Burries scored 28 points, Motiejus Krivas added a career-high 25 and No. 1 Arizona remained unbeaten with a 101-76 win over Kansas State on Wednesday night.

Arizona (15-0, 2-0 Big 12) is off to its best start since winning the first 21 games of the 2013-14 season. Arizona won by at least 18 points for the 10th consecutive game, matching a mark Michigan had earlier this season that tied for the longest such run since 2003-04.

Burries had his fifth 20-point game and matched his career high by going 12 for 16 from the field while adding nine rebounds. It was his 10th straight game in double figures, including at least 20 points in five of those, after just one over his first five.

Krivas was 7 of 10, making 11 of 13 free throws, and had 12 rebounds.

Koa Peat had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Tobe Awaka added nine and 11 as Arizona outrebounded Kansas State 55-32. Arizona shot 49.3% from the field but was just 3 of 16 from 3-point range.

Kansas State (9-6, 0-2) went 8 for 36 from deep and shot 33.8% overall. PJ Haggerty led the way with 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while Nate Johnson added 15 and Dorin Buca 12.

Down 15 at the half, Kansas State pulled within 58-49 with 16:09 left on a 3-pointer by Johnson. Arizona responded with a 6-0 run and kept the margin at least 12 the rest of the way. Back-to-back dunks by Burries and Peat and a corner 3-pointer by Jaden Bradley keyed a 13-0 run to put Arizona ahead 92-65 with 3:31 remaining.

It built a 10-point lead less than six minutes into the game and upped it to 20 with 2:52 left in the first half. Burries had 16 before halftime.

Follow @AZSports

Source link