Arizona
Arizona men’s basketball locks down on defense in 2nd half to win at BYU, remain tied for 1st in Big 12
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.
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 and Awaka putting them up 24-23 with 10:28 left in the first half.
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, with Bradley 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 to Veesaar 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.
Believe it or not, the 2026 All-Star Game voting process has already begun, as of Wednesday. Fans who want to see their favorite members of the Arizona Diamondbacks take the field in the midsummer classic this season can begin voting for their stars.
There are certainly some deserving players on this Diamondbacks club, which is currently 32-28 and occupying the third Wild Card sport in the National League.
Here’s how and where you can vote for your hometown heroes:
How to vote for Diamondbacks players to make All-Star Game
Fans can utilize the following link to vote for members of their team on dbacks.com. Fans are permitted to fill out and submit as many as five ballots per day, selecting as many or as few players as they choose.
This period of the fan vote constitutes Phase 1 of All-Star voting, which will run from Wednesday, June 3 through Thursday, June 25 at 9:00 a.m. Arizona time (12:00 p.m. Eastern time).
Following Phase 1, the two overall top vote-getters will receive automatic berths into the All-Star lineups. If those two are not Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge once again, that would be an upset.
When and where is the 2026 All-Star Game?
The 2026 All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies in Philadelphia. All-Star week begins on June 10, with a full slate of activities, before the game is played on Tuesday, July 14 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time (5:00 p.m. Arizona time).
The full schedule of events are as follows:
- Friday, July 10: HBCU Swingman Classic
- Saturday, July 11: 2026 MLB Draft
- Sunday, July 12: All-Star Sunday, MLB Futures Game, MLBx All-Star 3-on-3
- Monday, July 13: T-Mobile Home Run Derby (8:00 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, July 14: All-Star Red Carpet, All-Star Game
Which Diamondbacks are deserving All-Stars?
| Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
So, who should Diamondbacks fans vote for? Obviously, you may fill out the ballot however you choose. That can include a full roster of Diamondbacks, regardless of their stats or notoriety this season.
Still, here are some of the top performing D-backs who might have a leg up on an All-Star berth:
OF Corbin Carroll
Corbin Carroll is having another All-Star worthy season. He’s hitting .289/.380/.545 with a .925 OPS and eight home runs, while playing good right field defense. He has the eighth-most bWAR (2.7) among position players, fifth-most in the National League, and third-most among all pure outfielders.
2B Ketel Marte
If Marte wins the NL second base fan vote, it will be his third straight season starting the All-Star game. Despite such a slow start to the year, that feels possible again. Marte is hitting .259/.315/.456 with 10 homers and is playing the best defense of his career.
3B Nolan Arenado
Nolan Arenado is quietly putting together one of his better seasons of the 2020s, slashing .269/.351/.467 with eight homers and flashing his elite third base glove at nearly as good a pace as ever. His name still carries a lot of weight in third base conversations; he’ll get some votes, no matter what.
1B Ildemaro Vargas
Vargas’ bat has cooled down quite a bit since his historic start to 2026. He’s still hitting a sturdy .290/.318/.454, but feels more likely to be considered as a reserve selection than a leading vote-getter.
Honorable Mention: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
Pitchers are not selected by the fan vote. They are selected by player ballots and the All-Star Game managers. The National League’s manager will be Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, again.
The National League has quite a few talented pitchers, but Eduardo Rodriguez currently holds the fifth-best starting pitcher ERA (2.24) among NL hurlers. It’s going to be difficult to dethrone Christopher Sanchez or Jacob Misiorowski, but Rodriguez could find his way into the pitching pool, especially after his WBC heroics for Team Venezuela.
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Arizona State has added Michael White to its coaching staff for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. White will join the program as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
“I am incredibly honored to return to my home state and join this elite program,” White said. “I’m proud to say that I am coming home. I can’t thank Coach Herbie enough for the opportunity to join his incredible staff and help these young athletes grow and develop into the best individuals they can be. There are so many friends and mentors who have left their mark on this program, and I’m excited for the opportunity to leave mine and help take this program to new heights. Go Devils!”
White arrives with the Sun Devils after most recently spending the last three seasons with Alabama as an assistant. The Alabama women finished 11th at the 2026 NCAA Championships while the men were 24th.
Prior to arriving at Alabama, White spent the 2022-2023 season as a volunteer assistant at Wisconsin. He primarily coached the freestyle, breaststroke and distance groups for the Badgers. In addition to coaching the Badgers, he also was an assistant senior coach with the Madison Aquatics Club for the year. He began his coaching career at Juniata College in Pennsylvania as a volunteer assistant from 2019-2021.
White spent his collegiate career at St. Bonaventure in New York. There he was a 7x individual Atlantic-10 champion and swam to three school records as a senior with a 1:47.30 200 IM, 3:52.18 400 IM, and a 1:47.70 200 fly. He also was team captain for two season and helped the team capture the 2014 A-10 team title.
The Scottsdale, Arizona native will return to his home state. He was a 2012 AIA Division I state champion in the 100 breast and 200 IM as a senior for Dobson High School.
White joins the coaching staff led by head coach Herbie Behm, who is already known to be an innovative coach. Behm spoke of White’s innovation as well saying, “Mike is one of the best young coaches in the NCAA. His interview blew me away with the innovative ideas he presented. I can’t wait to start implementing those ideas and continue our growth at ASU.”
Arizona State swept the 2026 Big 12 team titles, and the men went on to finish 4th at 2026 NCAAs while the women were 37th. Rising senior Ilya Kharun captured the NCAA title in the 200 fly with a 1:37.66.
Arizona is ranked 18th in the nation when it comes to racial equality in the classroom, according to WalletHub.
The personal finance website compiled its 2026 list of Best States for Racial Equality in Education by looking at differences between Black and white students when it comes to test scores, college attainment and high school graduation rates.
The rankings are based on a weighted average of six metrics, but did WalletHub not provide a breakdown of each category.
However, statistics from the Center for the Future of Arizona support the idea that Arizona has work to do when it comes to racial equality. African American students in Arizona have an average college attainment rate of 38%, while white students have an average rate of 54%.
That difference is also evident in other education areas, with a gap of 11 percentage points between Black and white high schoolers in graduation rate.
WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo called the high school graduation rate the most “alarming” data set for the Arizona. He said if the study included the state’s large Hispanic population, the results might have been different.
“It would be interesting, if those numbers were included, where the gaps would be. Again, Arizona has a high Hispanic population, as [does] New Mexico, and New Mexico was at number three. So maybe Arizona could take a look at what their neighbors are doing there to kind of bridge those gaps,” he said.
How can Arizona increase racial equality in the classroom?
Lupo said Arizona can boost its ranking and improve racial equality in schools by increasing the representation and funding for public education.
“One thing [to] do is to build more diversity within the school system. More Black administrators and more Black teachers kind of create more of a familiarity for Black students and more mentors. … Increased funding and a more concerted effort to increase diversity among the school systems, I think, would go a long way in bridging that gap,” he said.
WalletHub ranked Wyoming, West Virginia and New Mexico as the best states for racial equality in the classroom, with New Jersey, Connecticut and Wisconsin at the bottom of the list.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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