Arizona men’s basketball outlasts ASU to keep perfect record

Leave it to That School Up North to give Arizona its toughest challenge in two months.

The top-ranked Wildcats remained among the dwindling number of unbeaten teams in the country, overcoming a rare halftime deficit and a spirited effort from ASU to win 89-82 on Wednesday night at McKale Center.

Arizona (17-0, 4-0 Big 12) continued the second-best start to a season in school history on the same night Vanderbilt lost for the first time at Texas (thanks, Sean Miller!) and a day after Iowa State was blown out at Kansas. The Wildcats are one of three unbeatens left along with Miami of Ohio (18-0) and Nebraska (17-0).

Tobe Awaka had a career-high 25 points, making 8 of 11 shots and going 8 for 8 from the line, while Koa Peat had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the first 20-10 game by an Arizona freshman since Bennedict Mathurin in 2021. Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 points and two of the UA’s four 3-pointers while Bradley had 12 points including a clutch jumper in the final minute.

ASU (10-7, 1-3) got 23 points from Moe Odum and 16 from freshman Massamba Diop. The Sun Devils, who made 11 of 25 3-pointers, led for nearly 10 minutes on the night, the 5th-most of any opponent this season, and were within single digits for all but 96 seconds in the second half.

Arizona trailed 39-38 at halftime, the first time it was down at the half since Dec. 13 against Alabama. The Wildcats retook the lead at 45-43 on a pair of free throws by Kharchenkov, which came after he flexed to the crowd following a foul in transition.

Back-to-back jumpers by Bradley gave the UA a 51-46 lead with 15:50 to go but ASU fought back to go ahead 53-52 just over a minute later.

A 3 by Dwayne Aristode put the Wildcats up 57-53 with 13:36 to go, the start of a push to finally create separation. Despite Motiejus Krivas getting his third and fourth fouls in a 15-second span, Arizona extended the lead with a dunk by Awaka off a Peat dish and then a Peat drive for a 61-54 edge with 11:30 remaining.

Diop picked up his 4^th foul with 8:36 left and Arizona up 68-61. Less than two minutes later the Wildcats were up 75-63 after a 7-0 run with the last five off ASU turnovers.

The Sun Devils wouldn’t go away, though. A 6-0 run capped by a Odum 3-point play cut it to 75-69 with 4:36 left, and a 3-pointer by Noah Meeusun made it a 4-point game with 2:15 remaining.

Arizona kept scoring on the other end to keep at least a 2-score lead until Odum pulled up for a long 3, made it, and was fouled by Awaka to get within 85-82 with 55 seconds remaining. He missed the free throw, though, and Bradley hit one of his patented fallaway midrange jumpers on the other end with 25.8 seconds to go.

The UA started out 3 for 12 from the field, allowing ASU to lead four times in the first seven minutes. The Wildcats then made 8 of 10 shots to build a 30-24 lead.

Along the way, though, the officials’ decision not to call many early fouls led to some tense moments.

A hard foul onPeatby ASU’s Allen David Mubeka with 9:44 left in the first half nearly led to a skirmish, as Peat declined Mubeka’s hand and then Mubeka stepped over him to get to his bench. Suddenly several players from both teams were nearby as the media timeout began, and both Mubeka and Brayden Burries were issued technical fouls.

Arizona looked like it had found some breathing room during a 9-2 run that included an Awaka 3, but ASU tied it at 31 with 4:09 left before halftime on a possession whenBradleyand Burries each got their second foul.

Bradley got his third foul with 1:02 left in the first half, and on the ensuing possession ASU’s Bryce Ford drained a long 3 for a 39-36 lead in the final minute.

Arizona hits the road for the longest trip in the Big 12, visiting UCF on Saturday in Orlando. The Knights (14-2, 3-1) beat Kansas State on Wednesday night.