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Arizona men’s basketball locks down on defense in 2nd half to win at BYU, remain tied for 1st in Big 12

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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.

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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 and Awaka 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, 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.



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Arizona baseball pitching coach John DeRouin taking position with Mets, per report

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Arizona baseball pitching coach John DeRouin taking position with Mets, per report


Pitching was a big reason why Arizona made it back to the College World Series last season. The return of many key arms for 2026 makes it likely the Wildcats will again have a stellar staff.

Who guides those pitchers, however, is uncertain.

Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star is reporting that pitching coach John DeRouin is leaving the program for a position within the New York Mets organization. DeRouin had been elevated to pitching coach over the summer after Kevin Vance was hired as head coach at San Diego State.

DeRouin, who was a pitching strategist under Vance the previous two seasons, was integral in developing Arizona’s arms, particularly starters Owen Kramkowski and Smith Bailey and reliever Tony Pluta. That trio are among several key pitchers returning from the CWS team, with DeRouin’s promotion factoring in their decisions to stay in Tucson.

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“John is like the pitching whisperer,” head coach Chip Hale said last month.

Hale could promote from within again, elevating Owen Cuffe. Whoever he hires will technically be his fourth pitching coach in five seasons. Dave Lawn handled the role in 2022-23, retained from Jay Johnson’s staff, before Vance was hired in 2024.

DeRouin is the latest in a string of college baseball coaches leaving for pro jobs. The most notable is Tennessee head coach, hired last month as manager of the San Francisco Giants

Arizona begins preseason practice in January ahead of the 2026 opener Feb. 13 against former Pac-12 rival Stanford at a tournament in Surprise.



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Report: Michigan search includes Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz

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Report: Michigan search includes Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz


ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The firm hired by Michigan to search for a football coach to replace Sherrone Moore has contacted representatives for Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because they were not authorized to share details of the search.

Moore was fired on Wednesday, when the school said an investigation uncovered his inappropriate relationship with a staffer. Two days later, Moore was charged with three crimes after prosecutors said he “barged his way” into the apartment of a woman he’d been having an affair with and threatened to kill himself.

College football’s winning program suddenly needs a coach.

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After the 35-year-old Dillingham was linked to numerous open jobs last month, he said he was not leaving his alma mater.

Two weeks ago, Drinkwitz agreed to a six-year contract that increases his average compensation to $10.75 million annually.

Michigan is hoping to hire a coach this month, helping its chances of retaining recruits and keeping key players out of the transfer portal in January.

Dillingham, who is from Scottsdale, Arizona, graduated from Arizona State in 2013 and started his coaching career as an assistant for the Sun Devils. After coaching at Memphis, he was the offensive coordinator for Auburn, Florida State and Oregon before returning to Arizona State.

Dillingham orchestrated a quick turnaround, leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff for the first time last year.

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Arizona State was 8-4 this season, improving Dillingham’s record to 22-16 over three seasons.

The 42-year-old Drinkwitz is 46-28 in six seasons at Missouri after going 12-1 in a year at Appalachian State. He has built the Tigers into a steady Southeastern Conference program, earning five straight bowl bids.





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Brayden Burries goes off in top-ranked Arizona’s win over No. 12 Alabama to remain unbeaten

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Brayden Burries goes off in top-ranked Arizona’s win over No. 12 Alabama to remain unbeaten


Based on his pedigree coming in to college, it was presumed by many that Brayden Burries would step on the court and just dominate. Kind of like how Koa Peat did in his first collegiate game and most since.

Not everything happens instantaneously. And some things, like Burries’ breakthrough performance on Saturday night, are worth waiting for.

The freshman guard scored a career-high 28 points, fueling top-ranked Arizona to a 96-75 win over No. 12 Alabama in Birmingham. The Wildcats (9-0) earned their fifth win this season over a ranked opponent, matching the 1987-88 team that also went 5-0 in nonconference games against ranked foes.

Burries, who started heating up a few weeks ago and had averaged 17 points over the previous three games, was 11 of 19 from the field and drained five of Arizona’s 10 3-pointers. His performance was especially big because fellow freshman Koa Peat struggled with foul trouble, finishing with a career-low five points in 20 minutes, while Jaden Bradley also had to sit for an extended period in the second half becauise of fouls.

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Bradley and Motiejus Krivas scored 14 apiece, with Krivas pulling down 14 rebounds, while Tobe Awaka had 15 boards as Arizona dominated Alabama 52-32 on the glass. The Wildcats had a 22-3 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to a 15-2 advantage in second chance points.

Alabama (7-3) got 24 points from Labaron Philon and 21 from Latrell Wrightstell Jr., with that duo going 15 of 28 including 6 of 12 from 3. But the Crimson Tide, who began 7 of 13 from 3, made only five more the rest of the way while the UA’s 38.5 percent shooting from outside was actually better.

Arizona was down 41-39 at the half, the first time it has trailed after 20 minutes this season. The Wildcats were back in front within two minutes and built a 49-43 lead thanks to a 10-0 run, but during that stretch Peat and Bradley each picked up their third foul.

Yet somehow, Arizona nearly tripled its lead with that duo on the bench.

The UA led 55-48 with 14:01 to go whenAwaka was called for a flagrant foul after Alabama coach Nate Oats appealed on a play that saw the Crimson Tide called for a foul. Both teams made 1 of 2 free throws from that, but then the Wildcats scored the next 11 with their defense fueling the charge.

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Back-to-back steals by Ivan Kharchenkov and Burries led to transition baskets, with Burries lobbing to Awaka for a dunk and then scoring seven straight to put the UA up 67-49 with 11:22 remaining.

Kharchenkov had 10 points and five steals, most by an Arizona freshman since KJ Lewis had five two seasons ago.

Burries fourth 3 put the Wildcats up 20 and his fifth made it 75-54 with nine minutes left. Alabama hit back-to-back 3s for the first time since seven minutes left in the first half to get within 82-65 but got no closer.

Arizona built a 19-12 lead on a 3-point play by Burries but Alabama’s outside shooting got it right back into it. A 7-0 run put the Tide up 26-22 midway through the first half.

Alabama’s 7th made 3 put it up 37-30 but then went cold, allowing the UA to retake the lead. A 9-0 run with seven straight from Bradley and then capped by a Peat jumper put the Wildcats up 39-37 with 1:51 left in the half.

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Two late baskets by the Crimson Tide put it back in front at the break.

Arizona returns home to take on Abilene Christian on Tuesday night before facing San Diego State in Phoenix next Saturday.



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