No. 1 Arizona Surges Past Abilene Christian to Remain Undefeated

Arizona was the more dominant Wildcats in its wide margin win at McKale Center.

Dec 16, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (13) gestures after he dunks the ball against the Abilene Christian Wildcats during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Fresh off their thwarting of the No. 12-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, the No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats kept the momentum going by surging past Abilene Christian in a one-sided matchup that ended in a 96-62 score.

What has made the Arizona Wildcats (10-0) a nightmare for opposing teams to deal with has been their overwhelming presence in the paint and on the glass, something that they continued to do against ACU (7-4).

By the final buzzer, Arizona outrebounded ACU 38-24, 31 of those coming from the defense. Arizona also proved that it was too much to handle in the paint, scoring 44 of its points in that area of the floor.

Dec 16, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Abilene Christian Wildcats forward Cade Hornecker (21) fouls Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Motiejus Krivas was nearly unstoppable when the ball was in his hands near the rim, scoring an easy 15 points by utilizing his size and strength.

Brayden Burries led the team in scoring with 20 points, going 9-for-11 from the field. Ivan Kharchenkov was third on the team with 11 points, going 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Overall, Arizona shot an impressive 67% from the field and scored 26 points off turnovers.

First half action

Dec 16, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) makes a three pointer over Abilene Christian Wildcats guard Ruch Smith (4) during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Arizona won the opening tip-off and, following a foul on Abilene Christian, immediately began draining shots. Ivan Kharchenkov scored the first four points for Arizona and Motiejus Krivas made an easy layup to put Arizona up 6-0 before ACU scored their first two points.

The 7-foot-2 Lithuanian then dunked the ball with authority, which was fed to him by Koa Peat to go up 8-2 just three minutes into the contest.

By the first media timeout, Arizona found itself up 19-6 with 15:35 remaining in the first half. Kharchenkov had six points by then and Krivas had four. Jaden Bradley scored his first four points from the free throw line and Burries scored three.

The backdoor cut. It's always open. pic.twitter.com/OWKm9xg4Og

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 17, 2025

ACU went on a five-point scoring streak to shorten Arizona's lead down to 19-11, but it once again surged to a 27-11 lead after that.

Soon after, Arizona was up on ACU 35-17 with eight minutes left in the half, doing so by punishing its opponent in the paint and taking advantage of turnovers caused by air-tight defense being played.

By the end of the first half, Arizona held onto a 51-31 lead. Arizona's cause for the wide lead was due to it outrebounding ACU 24-10, with 19 of those rebounds coming on the defensive end of the court.

.@JBsmoovve ➡️ @kpeat10 pic.twitter.com/tnTFfJQBkk

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 17, 2025

Arizona also dominated the paint in the first half, scoring 24 of its 51 points in there while shooting 10 more free throw shots and nailing seven more.

Arizona keeps rolling

ACU was able to keep it close in the beginning of the second half, scoring eight points to Arizona's 13 until the home team began once again pulling away.

Dec 16, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat (10) dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

With 12 minutes remaining, Arizona found itself up big with a 68-42 lead over ACU. The Arizona offense, led by Krivas, continued to bully ACU by scoring easy shots when near the rim and knocking down free throws.

With eight minutes remaining, Arizona was able to go up by as much as 30 points due to a layup made by Burries, pushing him past double-digit points for the fifth consecutive game. By the final buzzer, he notched 20 points to his stat total.

Cats by 30. pic.twitter.com/DweEdIA56r

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 17, 2025

ACU fought to shorten Arizona's lead, but the damage was done and it coasted to a victory in front of a packed McKale Center crowd.

Arizona will be back on the court the following Saturday in Phoenix, when it takes on the San Diego State Aztecs.

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