Inside The Wildcats

No. 1 Arizona Topples Kansas State in Big 12 Home Opener

Arizona remains undefeated after running through K-State
Nathaniel Martinez|
Jan 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) dunks the ball over Kansas State Wildcats center Dorin Buca (22) during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Jan 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Brayden Burries (5) dunks the ball over Kansas State Wildcats center Dorin Buca (22) during the first half of the game at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Fresh off their Big 12 opening win over the Utah Utes in the John M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT, the No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats made a quick turnaround and dismantled Kansas State to open the Big 12 home schedule with a 101-76 score.

Arizona's 15-0 start is the best since it went 21-0 in the 2013-2014 season, finishing with a 33-5 record, a Pac-12 championship, and making it to the Elite 8 before losing to Wisconsin in overtime. It is the best start in Tommy Lloyd's head coaching career at Arizona, as he led the team to a 12-0 start during the 2021-2022 season before losing to Tennessee.

Tobe Awak
Jan 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard C.J. Jones (3) fails to steal the ball from 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

By the end of the game, Arizona outrebounded K-State 55-32 and scored 56 of its points in the paint, displaying the dominance and physicality it has boasted all season. Brayden Burries led the team in points with 28 and was one rebound shy of securing his second double-double of the season. Over the last two games, Burries has come down with 20 rebounds.

K-State as a team got into foul trouble early in the game and could never get out of it. By the final buzzer, Arizona shot 39 free throws and made 30 of them compared to K-State's 16-19 night from the stripe.

Center Motiejus Krivas was second with 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, marking his third double-double of the season.

First half

Up by two points with a 6-4 score, Arizona quickly began adding to that lead after Bradley nailed two free throws to go up 8-4. K-State turned the ball over twice and Arizona turned those into points on the other end to make it a 12-4 game with 16 minutes left to play in the half. Kharchenkov scored the final basket before a K-State timeout, slamming the ball in with authority.

After the media timeout, Arizona continued suffocating K-State on defense, not allowing it to score for a total of four minutes. Khamari Mcgriff stopped the scoring slump for K-State, but Arizona scored another five to bring its lead up to 19-6 with 13 minutes left in the first half.

Arizona allowed a couple of wide-open 3-point shots to go down before the next media timeout, which accounted for a 6-2 run to make it a 21-12 game with 11 minutes left.

Arizona then took a controlling 34-14 lead with 8 minutes left in the half by cleaning up the glass and knocking down free throws. The 13-5 run by Arizona was capped off with fastbreak dunk by Koa Peat before K-State was forced to take a timeout.

K-Sate kept things mostly competitive after that, but couldn't muster a large enough run to tie it up. Arizona went into the locker room with a 51-36 lead. Burries led the team with 16 points and Krivas followed with 12. Arizona led in rebounds, 30-13 and points in the paint, 30-14.

Second half

Arizona picked up right where it left off in the first half, but K-State made the correct adjustments to chip away at the lead slowly. By the first media timeout, Arizona was up 60-49 with 15 minutes remaining in the game.

Arizona quickly bounced back to a 16-point lead, the final points of that run being scored by Awaka on a second-chance layup that also caused a foul. The free throw was made, making it a 66-53 game with just under 13 minutes left to play.

Krivas began imposing his will in the paint in the second half and led the team in points midway through the game with nine. His dunk with 9 minutes left to play made it a 76-62 game.

With 5 minutes left to play, Arizona took a 19-point lead, which was capped off with an earth-rattling dunk by Peat off the fastbreak, making it an 84-65 game.

With 4 minutes to play, Arizona's lead went up by as much as 25 points. with 2 minutes left, it went up by 30 points with a 95-65 score. By the final buzzer, Arizona won yet another convincing matchup, 101-76.

Arizona will be back on the court this Saturday, Jan. 10, when it takes on TCU at the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena.

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Nathaniel Martinez
NATHANIEL MARTINEZ

Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.