Arizona baseball had won five of its last seven games, which included three road wins, entering Friday evening’s matchup with Kansas State.
Arizona
No. 1 Arizona men’s basketball suffer a devastating loss against No. 9 University of Kansas
No. 1 Arizona men’s basketball team (23-1, 10-1 in Big 12) suffered a devastating loss 82-78 against No. 9 University of Kansas (19-5, 9-2 in Big 12) on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas broke the Wildcats 23 game winning streak as they head into the final games of the conference season. The Jayhawks are now 39-0 on Big Monday on their home court.
Despite the loss, the Wildcats put up a good fight and remained close until the end.
“Well, if a guy’s 38-0 on his home court on Big Mondays, it’s probably pretty hard to win here, no matter what our record coming in is. So we knew it’s going to be a tough game and we’re okay with it.” said head coach Tommy Lloyd post game.
Key players
Brayden Burries was the leading scorer for Arizona recording the most points for either team with 25. Burries also attempted and made the most 3-pointers shooting 4-of-7. The team altogether only made 6-of-15 3-pointers. Koa Pete was the teams second leading scorer with 14.
Motiejus Krivas was essential on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds and generated 16 second chance points.
For Kansas, Melvin Council Jr. and Flory Bidunga tied for the 23 points. Council Jr. managed to get six rebounds and shoot 10-of-11 free throws, which helped the Jayhawks extend their lead in the final minutes of the game. Bidunga also recorded 10 rebounds and six assists for Kansas.
First half
Arizona got on the board first after a layup from Ivan Kharchenkov which began a 6 point run. The Wildcats were able to gain a 7 point lead after Jaden Bradley went 1-for-2 from the free throw line.
The Wildcats controlled the first half but the Jayhawks eventually shortened the deficit. With about six minutes remaining in the half, a dunk on the fast break by Kansas’s Tre White brought the Wildcats lead to just 3 points.
Burries and Peat were able to create more space for Arizona with a free throw and 3-pointer. Arizona was in the lead 38-31 after Anthony Dell’Orso made a 3-pointer, but immediately after this Kansas went on a scoring run.
Elmarko Jackson and Bidunga made jumpers followed by a 3-pointer from Jamari McDowell to tie up the game 38-38 with just three minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams were going point for point, keeping the game tied as the clock ticked towards halftime.
With just one minute remaining, Burries made a 3-point jumper that brought the Wildcats into the lead 43-40. Kharchenkov made a jumper to extend Arizona’s lead, but unfortunately Bradley was called for a person foul, sending Council Jr. to the line where he shot 2-for-2.
Arizona held the lead going into halftime, but Kansas was not far behind with 45-42.
Second half
The Wildcats started the second half off similar to the first with a jumper from Kharchenkov getting them the first points of the half.
With just nine and a half minutes left in the game, Bidunga made a layup that brought the Jayhawks into the lead for the first time in the game. Kansas continued to go on a scoring run bringing their lead up to 69-64 after Council Jr. shot 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Immediately following these shots, Burries came back and put in a 3-pointer for Arizona keeping them right behind the Jayhawks.
As the clock winded down, Kansas started to extend their lead but had a personal foul called on McDowell sending Burries to the line where he shot 2-for-2.
With 30 seconds left, Burries made a 3-pointer to cut the Jayhawk lead to just one. Following Burries shot, a foul was called on Peat which allowed Kansas to shoot from the stripe. Council Jr. made both free throws bringing their lead up to 79-76.
Arizona continued to get called for fouls that sent Kansas to the free throw line where they did not miss a single shot. They put up a good fight until the last moments as with just nine seconds remaining Krivas shortened the deficit to only 2 points with a jumper on the fast break.
This unfortunately was not enough as White was sent to the free throw line with five seconds remaining where he made 2-for-2 extending their lead. The win slipped out of Arizona’s reach after that. Kansas took the win and claimed the first victory against Arizona 82-78.
Looking forward
Arizona will be looking to bounce back from this loss at home on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 4:30 p.m. against No. 14 Texas Tech University. There are only four home games remaining in the 2025-26 season before the Big 12 Tournament, so the Wildcats will need all the support they can get from fans.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
In these four-round projections, the Arizona Cardinals don’t get a tackle until the fourth round.
We are just days away from the 2026 NFL draft, and that means some final mock drafts. What direction will the draft take the Arizona Cardinals?
Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy put together a four-round mock draft for the Cardinals. They go defense early but rebuild the offense for 2026 and moving forward, including landing their potential franchise quarterback.
Cardinals 4-round mock draft
Here are the players in the first four rounds Popejoy projects for Arizona.
- Round 1: Ohio State EDGE/LB Arvell Reese
- Round 2: Alabama QB Ty Simpson
- Round 3: Clemson WR Antonio Williams
- Round 4: Florida OT Austin Barber
What we think of the picks
The Cardinals want to trade out of the third pick and draft a tackle, so not getting a tackle until Round 4 seems unlikely, although they did meet with Barber. They do have options at right tackle for 2026 already on the roster.
Reese would be a great pick if they don’t trade back, as they badly need pass-rushing help off the edge.
Drafting Simpson seems inevitable at this point, so it has to be in a mock draft, although the feeling is they will need to go up into Round 1 again to get him.
Williams has speed and is almost six feet tall, but he does have short arms.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Due to significant injuries to the CB position last year which includes a shoulder surgery for Terrion Arnold, the Lions CB position scored a 6/10 need on my Lions Defensive Draft Need Rankings. Thus, an early-round selection of a young, healthy prospect like Keith Abney would not come as a surprise. He enters the draft with very low medical concern level.
Here is the excerpt from my medical report on Keith Abney:
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information are unverified and subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Keith Abney, CB (21) – Arizona State
Projected round 2-3. #43 on Jeff Risdon board Feb 19.
Concern level 0/10
There is an isolated report of a hand injury but no corroborating information. Even if the hand injury is true, that’s of minimal to no long-term concern.
His availability in his final two seasons has been perfect. Overall, Abney appears to be medically clean and is at an excellent age.
He finished college with 6 INT and 21 PBU.
For more Lions coverage, follow us on X, @TheLionsWire, and give our Facebook page a like. Follow Jimmy on X, @JimmyLiaoMD
In the first game of the series, Arizona (14-23, 5-11 Big 12) battled in a low-scoring affair but fell short in a 2-1 loss to Kansas State (24-12, 8-8 Big 12). The Wildcats from Tucson held the Wildcats from Manhattan at bay for a good majority of the night.
Given that Kansas State leads the Big 12 in conference play in batting, on-base percentage, and slugging, Arizona had a rather good performance, but it was not enough.
Owen Kramkowski pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing the first Kansas State run in the top of the eight. He finished with six strikeouts and kept the high octane Wildcats at bay.
“I thought the defense played well behind him too,” said head coach Chip Hale. “There’s a lot of ground balls, and we made plays where we were positioned in good places, and he was pitching in the eighth inning. That’s unbelievable.”
Garrett Hicks (3-1) came in to try and stop the bleeding for the Wildcats and did so by not allowing Kansas State to take the lead in the eighth. It was in the ninth when the lead was surrendered.
It took until the sixth inning but the first run was scored by Arizona. Andrew Cain singled to left field and after Maddox Mihalakis flew out, it was Beau Sylvester bringing Cain home with a triple through right center field.
Sylvester extended his hitting streak to eight games and it proved to be not enough to get Arizona to the finish line.
Kansas State tied the game at the top of the eight when back to back singles got runners on at first and third. Then a passed ball allowed the third base runner to come home.
Arizona had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the ninth after Cain singled to deep right field. With Sylvester back at the plate, it seemed like it was a perfect set up.
A wild pitch nearly got past Kansas State and Cain tried to take advantage of it and steal home. However, Kansas State was able to corral the pitch and get Cain out at home.
AJ Evasco started the ninth inning with a double for Kansas State and back to back fly outs eventually got him home to give Kansas State the lead and the win.
With eight players being left on base, Arizona will need to bring those runners in more often than not if they want to tie the series Saturday afternoon.
As a young team, the Wildcats have had to walk a very tight line between disappointment and dejection and will need to continue handling these losses with grace if it wants to turn a corner.
“It’s the way it goes, it’s baseball,” said Hale. “If we don’t handle it, we will come out tomorrow and won’t be ready to go, so hopefully they handle it.”
-
Milwaukee, WI3 minutes agoMilwaukee boy critically missing, last seen near Teutonia and Kiley
-
Atlanta, GA9 minutes agoNew York hosts Atlanta with 1-0 series lead
-
Minneapolis, MN15 minutes agoFatal Minneapolis crash sentencing: Teniki Steward sentenced to more than 12 years
-
Indianapolis, IN21 minutes agoPirates farm report for April 18, 2026: Rafael Flores Jr. hits 1st homer in Indianapolis win
-
Pittsburg, PA27 minutes agoMcCorkle: Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 Mock Draft (Final Version)
-
Augusta, GA33 minutes agoAugusta nonprofit hosts family financial literacy day
-
Washington, D.C39 minutes agoStorm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week
-
Cleveland, OH45 minutes agoWinners and Losers From Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 1