Jaden Bradley hits dagger as Arizona staves off upset bid by ASU

ASU men’s basketball gave No. 1 Arizona all it could handle on Wednesday in Tucson, but the Wildcats did enough late to win 89-82 and keep their perfect season alive.

Moe Odum nearly lost the ball as ASU (10-7, 1-3) trailed by six with a minute left, but he recovered it and pulled up to hit a deep 3 that he was also fouled on. He did not complete the four-point play, but the Sun Devils were within one possession in the final minute.

Jaden Bradley, who has come up repeatedly for Arizona (17-0, 4-0 Big 12) in big moments this season, then had the dagger from the mid-range to put the game out of reach with 27 seconds left.

Closing time. pic.twitter.com/bI0JPaX667

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 15, 2026

Odum’s heaves on the following possessions did not fall, as the No. 1 team completed the victory.

Valley native Koa Peat had 16 of his 24 points in the second half for Arizona, getting huge buckets at the rim as the ASU frontcourt battled foul trouble.

Arizona has routinely dominated teams throughout its 17-0 start, especially as it entered Wednesday’s matchup on an 11-game streak of wins by double-digits. It led by double-digits for only about a minute and a half of the rivalry win as ASU scored 82 points, more than all but one (Florida, 87) of Arizona’s previous opponents scored against them.

With previously unbeaten Vanderbilt dropping a game on Wednesday to Texas, Arizona’s win secured its spot as one of three remaining undefeated squads going into Thursday.

Physical, evenly matched 1st half in ASU-Arizona

The Sun Devils were the first team in over a month to lead the Wildcats at halftime, 39-38, courtesy of a Bryce Ford 3 late in the first.

Arizona had not lost a first half since its Dec. 13 win over Alabama in Birmingham. The Wildcats trailed by two at the break then, going on to win by 21. The deficit they faced at home against the Sun Devils was even smaller.

Double-technical fouls were called on ASU’s Allen Mukeba and Arizona’s Brayden Burries midway through the first half after Mukeba fouled Peat on a shot and went to help Peat up off the floor. Peat denied the help and waited for his teammates instead, which included Burries giving a light push to Mukeba to get him out of the picture.

The two teams exchanged words, which is when Mukeba was called for his technical.

Koa Peat went for the monster slam on Arizona State and things instantly got chippy between the two rivals.@DevilsDigest pic.twitter.com/qr4gYrm2rj

— Justin LaCertosa (@LaCertosaSports) January 15, 2026

Less than a minute later, there was more physicality as ASU’s Santiago Trouet got tangled up while defending Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas. Both players were getting into it as Trouet was called for a foul, with ASU coach Bobby Hurley appealing to get a flagrant called on Krivas. The call was upheld.

At that point, nine minutes remained in the half with the score tied at 20.

By then, Tobe Awaka had seven of his points and Massamba Diop had four of his. The two bigs went mano a mano the rest of the frame, finishing the half with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Awaka shot 6 for 8 (75%) in the half with the rest of Arizona shooting 8 of 24 (33.3%). Diop was 5 of 8 (62.5%) while the rest of ASU was 10 of 27 (37%). They went on to finish with 25 and 16 points, respectively.

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