Arizona
No time to rest for Arizona men’s basketball with another elevated opponent on horizon
The unique nature of Pac-12 road trips is there is little time to dwell on the first game when the second is right around the corner. That also means there’s not much opportunity to rest after playing three overtimes, in elevation, and then getting on a plane to another state that’s higher up in the clouds.
Arizona (18-5, 9-3 Pac-12) arrived in Boulder just before 1 a.m. MT Friday following its triple-OT win at Utah, one in which three starters logged career highs in minutes and a fourth nearly hit the 50-minute mark. The back end of a traditionally arduous road swing is at 8 p.m. MT Saturday when the eighth-ranked Wildcats face Colorado.
Caleb Love played 49 of a possible 55 minutes in that 105-99 victory, the most since Gabe York set a school record with 55 (and Allonzo Trier logged 53) in a quaduple-OT loss at USC in 2016. That wasn’t Love’s most, though, as last season with North Carolina he played 57 minutes against Alabama in a 4-OT game.
Pelle Larsson played 49 minutes on Thursday, and it would have been more had he not sat out the final 2:39 of the first half after turning his ankle. That’s eight more than his previous high, set in December’s double-OT loss to FAU in Las Vegas.
“Ain’t nothing to it,” Larsson said on the Pac-12 Network broadcast after the win, which saw him score a career-high 27 points and add seven rebounds and a career-best eight assists.
Also logging their most minutes in a college game were Oumar Ballo (45) and Keshad Johnson (43), while Ballo playing all but the final 32 seconds of the third OT despite picking up his fourth foul late in regulation.
Colorado (16-7, 7-5) played its Thursday game at the same time as Arizona, but its 82-70 win over ASU was done in less than two hours. It was the Buffaloes’ 13th win in as many tries this season at the Coors Events Center, where the UA hasn’t won since 2015.
That’s also the last time the Wildcats completed the Mountain road sweep, having done so the previous season as well. Both of those teams made it to the Elite Eight under Sean Miller.
Besides fatigue, Arizona could also be facing potential limitations from injury. While Larsson had 22 of his 27 points after coming back from the ankle tweak, point guard Kylan Boswell appeared to suffer a shoulder injury with 5:25 left in regulation and had to be helped off the court by trainer Justin Kokoskie.
Boswell returned to the game with 1:32 left and missed a game-winning 3-point attempt at the end of regulation. He had two assists and made a jumper during the OT periods, finishing with 16 points—his most since a career-high 18 in the season opener—but it’s uncertain if there will be any lingering effects from that injury.
“They told me he was fine to come back in,” Tommy Lloyd said after the game, following that up with one of his go-to dad hokes. “Obviously he got hit in the shoulder or something. I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express, I stayed at a Marriott, so I’m not a doctor. Okay? I don’t know and I’m being 100 percent honest with you. I just know that they told me he was okay to play.”
Arizona has started the same five all 23 games this season, though backup guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis have been getting more and more run. Bradley logged more than 20 minutes for the seventh time in Pac-12 play, while Lewis got to 20-plus for the fifth time in the last six games.
Colorado should be much healthier than when it came to McKale Center last month and got crushed 97-50. The Buffaloes were missing starters Tristan Da Silva and Cody Williams in that matchup, and that duo combined for 26 points against ASU.
Win or lose Saturday, Arizona will get a full week to recover before its next game Feb. 17 at home against ASU.
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.
Follow
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.
-
Technology4 minutes agoGoogle and Epic give up fighting — third-party Android app stores are coming next week
-
World10 minutes agoFBI snares an American heir indicted for allegedly bankrolling anti-cop, pro-Hamas communist revolution
-
Politics16 minutes agoBiden special counsel’s ‘runaway train’ scooped up sensitive lawmaker info: ‘Abuse of power’
-
Health22 minutes ago‘Miracle on the Hudson’ hero Captain ‘Sully’ Sullenberger reveals Alzheimer’s diagnosis
-
Sports28 minutes agoAmerican League stars outshine National League in 96th MLB All-Star game
-
Technology34 minutes agoBefore you connect another smart TV, tablet or phone, lock it down
-
Business40 minutes agoCommentary: Trump greenlights California’s dumbest water project
-
Entertainment46 minutes ago‘Hail Satan? Not me.’ Charley Crockett fires satanic duo Twin Temple, so Jack White hires them
