Arizona

Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener

Published

2 months ago

January 3, 2026

Arizona men’s basketball cruises to win at Utah in Big 12 opener

Weird things have happened to Arizona in Salt Lake City in recent years. In 2022, an unbeaten Wildcats squad fresh off a dominant performance at the Maui Invitational laid an egg against Utah, and two years later the UA needed triple overtime to get past the Utes.

No such drama this time around.

Top-ranked Arizona jumped out to a 17-point lead before the second media timeout and then coasted to a 97-78 win at Utah on Saturday afternoon to open Big 12 play.

The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) saw their streak of wins by at least 20 points end at eight, tying the school record set in 1928-29. But the victory was no less dominant than the previous seven, with the UA shooting 53.6 percent, finishing plus-13 on the boards and again getting five scorers in double figures.

Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley led the way with 18 points apiece, Awaka going 6 of 7 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3 while adding 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Bradley was 7 of 11 from the field and added five assists.

Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 for Arizona, which scored in the 90s for the 10^th time this season including eight of the last nine games.

Utah (8-6, 0-1) got 26 points from Terrence Brown and 15 each from Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry but shot 44.3 percent overall and just 5 of 17 from 3. The Utes turned it over 12 times, leading to 18 points for the Wildcats, who had 11 steals for their seventh game with at least 10 swipes.

The UA led 58-39 at halftime, its most points in the first half of a conference game since dropping 63 on ASU in 1998. That offensive explosion did not immediately carry over to the second half, though, as Arizona didn’t make its first post-halftime field goal until 17:06 left.

But then things went back to normal, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 70-46 with 13:56 to go. Utah followed with a 12-3 run to get within 15 but that was the closest it would get.

The only real drama down the stretch was if Arizona would again win by 20. It led by 21 after a Burries basket with 51 seconds remaining but Bradley fouled Utah’s Brown with 49.8 seconds to go in order to let backups come in and Brown made two free throws.

Utah scored the game’s opening basket and then Arizona followed with 14 in a row, which included a few baskets off Ute turnovers. Six of those points were byKharchenkov, who scored twice off steals.

The rout appeared to be on early, withAwakanailing a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-10 with 12:16 left in the first half. But the UA went three minutes without a field goal, allowing Utah to cut the deficit to single digits.

A second-chance 3 by Brown got the Utes within 34-26 with 7:49 left in the half. But Arizona righted the ship on both ends, using a 10-0 run (with another Awaka 3) to build a 46-28 advantage. The Wildcats made their final six shots before the break, shooting 61.1 percent overall in the first half.

The UA plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Kansas State. K-State (9-5, 0-1) fell 83-73 at home to No. 10 BYU on Saturday.

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Arizona

There’s more to Phoenix hot-weather records than you may realize

Published

8 hours ago

March 16, 2026

Press Room

There’s more to Phoenix hot-weather records than you may realize

The National Weather Service provides helpful information for extreme heat in Arizona, but you may need some help deciphering the data on the website page.

For example, under “Average First 100° F Day,” there are two sets of figures for the Phoenix area: “May 10 (POR)” and “May 2 (1991-2020).” So, which one do we go by?

According to The Republic’s environment and climate editor, Shaun McKinnon, those two sets of figures can be interpreted this way:

“May 10 is the ‘period of record,’ which means the average for 1896-2025. May 2 is based on the last 30 years (which is the time frame the National Weather Service uses to determine ‘normal’ temps. Every 10 years, the service slides the date ahead 10 years to keep it at 30). The difference between the two figures shows that 100-degree days are arriving on average eight days sooner than over the long term.”

Which means it’s starting to get hotter sooner in the year now.

The data also applies on the other side of what we Arizonans loosely call “the summer season”: The average last 110-degree day is Aug. 13 (period of record) and Aug. 26 (1991-2020), which anyone who has lived here long enough knows by experience means the extreme heat is lasting longer.

What you need to know about Phoenix-area heat

A Tucson native whose family spent summers in the White Mountains, Rebecca “Becca” Dyer lives in the Valley and is a copy editor/online producer for The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com. Send tips on Arizona history items to rebecca.dyer@arizonarepublic.com.

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Arizona

Arizona basketball popular March Madness NCAA Tournament winner pick

Published

20 hours ago

March 15, 2026

Press Room

Arizona basketball popular March Madness NCAA Tournament winner pick

The Arizona Wildcats may not be the favorite to win the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament, but that isn’t going to stop a lot of people from picking Tommy Lloyd’s team to win March Madness.

The Big 12 champions got some early support during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS, when two out of three analysts selected the No. 1 seed in the West Region to win the NCAA Tournament.

Seth Davis predicted an Arizona win over Duke, the No. 1 seed in the East, in the national title game.

Bruce Pearl predicted an Arizona win over Florida, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, for the national championship.

Only Kenny Smith had a different idea. He predicted Purdue to defeat Florida for the NCAA title. The Boilermakers are the No. 2 seed in the West Region, behind Arizona.

Join the madness: USA TODAY Bracket Challenge | Survivor Pool

Final Four, national championship picks:

Kenny Smith: Duke, Purdue, Florida, Virginia

Purdue over Florida for NCAA title

Seth Davis: Duke, Arizona, Houston, Michigan

Arizona over Duke for title

Bruce Pearl: St. John’s, Arizona, Florida, Michigan

Arizona over Florida for championship

National championship odds

Early odds from DraftKings Sportsbook have Duke (+330), Michigan (+350), Arizona (+400) and Florida (+700) as the March Madness favorites.

Purdue is at +3500, while Virginia is at +6000, Houston is at +1000. St. John’s is at +5000.

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. Sign up for azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing.

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Arizona

Donate to Send a Kid to Camp, save on your Arizona taxes

Published

1 day ago

March 15, 2026

Press Room

Donate to Send a Kid to Camp, save on your Arizona taxes

Jean (Jamie) Hilton, $20.

John A. and Virginia La Bar, $200.

Mr. and Mrs. R.J. Lundin II, $100.

Mrs. Eugene Nielson, $100.

Pete and Tony Read, $100.

Rene R. and Alice F. Redondo, $100.

Michael and Judy Rigby, $50.

Barbara L. Schoenhals, $200.

More donations will be acknowledged in the coming week.

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