PHOENIX — It was a tale of two halves for No. 1 Arizona in its 68-45 win over San Diego State at Mortgage Matchup Center on Saturday.

The first half was characterized by freezing cold shooting (1-for-10, with the only make coming in the last minute) and turnovers (10) as the Aztecs played to their style of mucking things up.

The second looked a lot more like what this year’s Wildcats (11-0) have established in their blazing hot start: good shot selection, unselfish offense and physical defense.

“Just stay poised,” Tobe Awaka said of the message at halftime. “We know what kind of team they are in terms of the full-court press and what they do defensively. … I think it’s just getting a feel for the game, seeing what the style is like and how they’re playing us.

“We knew coming into the game that they were gonna be aggressive, they were gonna play with a chip on their shoulder. After that first half, we just needed to adjust and play with more poise.”

“And we also started playing with swag,” Koa Peat added.

Arizona allowed just three made field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. It was also a much better 5-for-15 from 3 than in the first 20 minutes.

Peat, playing in the Valley for the first time since he won four Arizona state championships with Gilbert Perry High School, was key to setting the right tone early in the second after fouls held him to six first-half minutes.

He had a hand in Arizona’s first two buckets of the half and forced a miss at the rim in the early-goings before finishing with 11 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes.

Arizona’s largest lead of the first half was two, and it came in the first five minutes. Awaka then had a putback dunk to make it a 20-point lead with less than five minutes left.

Awaka had 15 rebounds in 22 minutes to go with his nine points, and head coach Tommy Lloyd offered an NBA All-Star comparison to his former big man at Gonzaga, Domantas Sabonis.

Tommy Lloyd compares Tobe Awaka to his former Gonzaga big man Domantas Sabonis, also crediting Mo Krivas for being instrumental in winning the rebound margin 52-28 vs. SDSU. pic.twitter.com/x4jMZ2Ketg

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) December 21, 2025

Peat, Jaden Bradley (11), Anthony Dell’Orso (10), Ivan Kharchenkov (10) and Brayden Burries (10) all reached double-digit points for Arizona, while SDSU was led by Reese Dixon-Waters’ eight points.

With the win, Arizona avoided becoming the second top-three team to be upset on Saturday, after No. 19 Texas Tech knocked off No. 3 Duke earlier in the night.

Arizona had to match SDSU’s early fire

It was a clunky start for the Wildcats due to San Diego State’s combination of interior size and physicality, and it wasn’t helped by an 0-for-7 start from 3.

The seven early 3-point attempts — all within the first nine minutes — were uncharacteristic for a team that averages just 16.8 attempts per game (357th in Division 1).

Kharchenkov gave Arizona some rhythm when he scored to end a 3:52 field-goal drought, which engaged the Wildcat-heavy crowd at Mortgage Matchup Center and led to some much-needed defensive stops.

Arizona continued to chip away at the deficit as it ramped up its physicality to meet the opponent, with Bradley’s veteran savvy playing a key role.

Bradley drew a foul against SDSU big Magoon Gwath running up the floor after a miss by Gwath, and it may have set SDSU coach Brian Dutcher off toward a technical foul he earned while Bradley was at the line.

Dell’Orso made the technical free throw and Bradley made both of his, and Dell’Orso punctuated the run back with a deep go-ahead 3 with 32 seconds left in the half. It was Arizona’s first 3-point make in 10 tries.

The 28-27 score at the break looked ugly, as did the combined 31.5% shooting from both teams (11.8% from 3).

The Aztecs’ identity is to muck things up, and they did so successfully in the first half. As the Wildcats have shown multiple times this season, they’re able to turn a close game into a comfortable win in a hurry.