For the first time this season, Arizona stayed on the road in between games. Yet despite getting more than two full days’ of rest following its win at Houston, the Wildcats spent much of Tuesday night looking like a team on the second half of an NBA back-to-back with a flight in between.
Arizona
Arizona men’s basketball rallies to win at Baylor, moves closer to first Big 12 title
It wasn’t pretty, but in the end the UA moved a step closer to its first Big 12 Conference championship by outlasting Baylor 87-80. The Wildcats (25-2, 13-2) have a 2-game lead in the standings with three remaining and can clinch a share of the title with a win Saturday at home against No. 14 Kansas.
Arizona trailed by seven at halftime and 10 early in the second half, its largest deficit since the UCLA game in mid-November, but outscored the Bears 13-5 over the final 4:04.
Jaden Bradley scored 25 points, hitting a career-high five 3-pointers and adding six rebounds and six assists, while Brayden Burries had 23 including 14 in the final 10:09. Tobe Awaka added a double-double (10 points, 13 rebounds) as the UA outrebounded Baylor 23-11 in the second half to finish plus-7 on the boards.
The UA shot 49.2 percent overall and were 9 of 21 from 3 for the second straight game.
Baylor got 26 from Cameron Carr and 16 from Isaac Williams, who missed two free throws in the final 1:13 while Arizona was 5 of 6 on foul shots down the stretch and 18 of 23 for the game.
Arizona turned the ball over just once in the second half, taking away a key scoring component for the Bears, who had gotten 14 points off UA miscues in the first half.
The UA trailed 41-34 at halftime, its largest deficit of the season after 20 minutes, then Baylor hit a 3 on the opening possession of the second half to build only the third double-digit lead against the Wildcats this season.
Then a switch flipped for Arizona, scoring seven in a row. Another 7-0 run, capped by Motiejus Krivas’ two free throws, put the Wildcats up 48-46. Bradley’s fifth 3-pointer made it 55-51 with 12:15 to go.
Baylor, which shot 53.6 percent in the first half, missed eight straight shots after that opening 3 but then hit 4 of 6. The last two were monster dunks by Caden Powell andCarr to tie it at 55.
That began a stretch of nearly nine minutes where neither team led by more than two points, mostly because neither team could defend. Arizona had four 1-point leads, including off 3s by Ivan Kharchenkov and Anthony Dell’Orso, but Baylor made 10 of 13 shots after the Wildcats took their first lead of the second half.
The UA finally got a stop on defense and Burries scored on the other end for a 78-75 lead with 3:05 remaining. After that the Wildcats kept the lead, icing the game at the line but not before Burries hit a long 2 with 27.8 seconds left for a 4-point lead, a possession that took more than 45 seconds and included an offensive rebound by Kharchenkov.
Arizona had a 10-8 lead, fueled by two early 3s from Bradley, but then Baylor went on a 7-0 and started to take control. The Bears went up 24-16, the first time in Big 12 play the UA had been down more than two scores.
Bradley had 10 of the Wildcats’ first 20 points but then had to sit for a bit with 8:47 left in the first half following a second foul. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant after a Baylor appeal showed he had smacked Obi Agbim in the face while in transition.
The UA defense was porous no matter who was on the court. Baylor scored on consecutive backdoor cuts and then went up 37-28 on a 3-point play by Michael Rataj that sawAwaka join Bradley andKrivas with two fouls.
Arizona got within five but only scored two points over the final 3:43 of the half.
The UA is back home for the next two games, starting with Saturday’s clash against Kansas and then the home finale Monday vs. No. 4 Iowa State.
An
Maricopa County, Ariz., asked the court to affirm its determination that the location was a 30-auditorium mixed used movie theater worth nearly $29 million in full cash value and $12.5 million in limited value.
However, AMC’s expert appraiser didn’t err when he limited the property’s valuation to the 17 auditoriums the theater currently uses to show films, the court determined in an unsigned opinion posted Tuesday. …
The Week 7 matchup between K-State and Arizona State will feature two of the youngest coaches in all of college football: Kenny Dillingham and Collin Klein. They are tied for the youngest in the Power 4 conferences, and only Kirby Moore of Washington State (35) and Zach Kittley (34) are younger Division I coaches.
While Dillingham didn’t play football at Arizona State, like Klein, he is at his alma mater. An injury in his high senior year forced him to stop playing and get into coaching. He became the offensive coordinator at Chaparral High School at 21 years old, and was hired just two years later by Mike Norvell as an offensive analyst at Arizona State. He went back to Tempe in 2023, after spending the previous season as the offensive coordinator at Oregon.
Both of these guys are looking to lead their alma maters to a Big 12 Championship, and this is one of those games that could be pivotal in that pursuit.
K-State Early Opponent Preview Series: Nicholls| Washington State| Tulane| Cincinnati| Houston| Kansas
Offense
Quarterback Sam Leavitt wasn’t able to live up to the hype after leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 Championship in 2024, and he announced he was transferring to LSU during the off-season. Dillingham and his staff were quick to fill the vacany, as they picked up former Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley in the transfer portal.
Boley was the highest-rated quarterback to ever commit to Kentucky, as he was a consensus 4-star recruit. He had an up-and-down freshman year in 2025, as he threw for 2,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In a loss to Tennessee, he showed off the talent by throwing for 330 yards and five touchdowns.
The offense lost two great playmakers in Kaleek Brown and Jordan Tyson. Brown was one of the best running backs in the Big 12, as he rushed for 1,141 yards and 4 touchdowns. Tyson had to deal with injuries, but he still had 61 catches for 788 yards and eight touchdowns and ended up going No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints in the 2026 NFL Draft.
One guy who could make a strong impact in the Arizona State offense is Boston College transfer Reed Harris. He had 39 catches for 673 yards and five touchdowns. He is a matchup nightmare, as he towers over defensive backs with his 6-foot-5 frame. He plays a style similar to Tyson, and he stands three inches taller and 17 pounds heavier.
Defense
There are a lot of changes on the defense at Arizona State, but defensive lineman C.J. Fites is a player who is capable of being an anchor on a defense. He took a major leap last season, finishing the year with 27 tackles and 6.5 sacks. He was named a preseason All-Big 12 defensive tackle and is a guy who figures to hear his name in the 2027 NFL Draft. Fite’s presence will force offenses to throw double-teams at him, and should open up opportunities for others to get after the quarterback.
The two leading tacklers last year were linebackers Jordan Crook and Keyshaun Elliott, who had 101 and 98 tackles, respectively. With both of these players gone, Martell Hughes is a guy who the Sun Devils will need to step up.
While there were losses in the off-season, the Sun Devils’ secondary has a chance to be one of the better units in the country. They bring back two very talented safeties in Adrian Wilson and Jessiah McGrew. The cornerback duo of Rodney Bimage Jr. and Montana Warren was good, but the arrival of LSU transfer Ashton Stamps.
He made major news last year after he hit the transfer portal after playing in only one game against Louisiana Tech. While it was a weird year, he is the type of talent that could give the Sun Devils the best secondary in the Big 12.
Schedule
In today’s college football, many teams are becoming hesitant to take big challenges during the non-conference season. However, that isn’t the case with the Sun Devils, as they go to College Station to take on Texas A&M in Week 2. After that game, the schedule lightens up. Including the matchup against K-State, four of Arizona State’s next five games will be at home.
The challenging part of the Sun Devils’ conference schedule is that some of their toughest matchups are on the road. They have road trips at Texas Tech, BYU, and Arizona, who are looked at as contenders in the Big 12.
Outlook
Dillingham has been outstanding early in his tenure in Tempe. After going 3-9 in his first year in 2023, he helped lead the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record and an appearance in the College Football Playoff during the 2024 season. Last year, they finished the year 8-5, despite losing quarterback Sam Leavitt early in the year.
The Big 12 is wide-open, and the Sun Devils once again to have the pieces to compete for a spot in the conference championship.
Game Info
Date: Saturday, October, 24
Time: TBD
TV: TBD
Location: Mountain America Stadium
Series history: Arizona State leads the all-time series, 6-1. The Sun Devils have dominated this series, and won the most recent game 24-14 in 2024. The only time the Wildcats have knocked off Arizona State was in the 2002 Holiday Bowl.
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Chuck D, left, and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy.
Sanjay Suchak
Two Arizona Public Enemy concerts in one year? As Chuck D. might say, bring the noise.
After a searing set in February at Tempe’s Innings Festival, the legendary hip-hop group will return to metro Phoenix on Saturday, Oct. 24, to perform as part of the Arizona State Fair’s concert series.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. inside the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum with no opening act.
Public Enemy joins a growing lineup of artists set to perform at the 2026 Arizona State Fair, which runs weekends from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.
Previously announced Coliseum Concert Series performers include alt-rockers Gin Blossoms on Friday, Oct. 2, R&B/pop star Becky G on Friday, Oct. 9 and punk favorites The Offspring on Friday Oct. 16.
Few hip-hop acts are as iconic as Public Enemy. Fronted by Chuck D. and Flavor Flav, the group has performed since the early ‘80s and has spent decades mixing politically charged lyrics with fierce bests on classic tracks like “Fight the Power,” “Bring the Noise” and “Welcome to the Terrordome.”
Public Enemy’s upcoming concert marks the first time the iconic hip-hop act has performed at the Arizona State Fair and their latest in a series of Valley gigs. It also continues a decades-long history of Valley performances.
Over the years, Public Enemy has played venues large and small across metro Phoenix, from arenas and stadium shows to concert halls Tempe’s Marquee Theatre. The group also famously staged an impromptu performance at the long-running local hip-hop event The Blunt Club back in 2006.
When do Arizona State Fair concert tickets go on sale?
Tickets for Gin Blossoms and Russell Dickerson are already available through azstatefair.com/concerts.
Tickets for Public Enemy at the fair go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday through azstatefair.com/concerts. A presale for subscribers to the Fair Fandom newsletter begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Reserved-seat upgrades are available for all four concerts. Each concert ticket also includes admission to the Arizona State Fair.
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