PHOENIX — Tobe Awaka had 15 rebounds off the bench and starting center Motiejus Krivas each had 13 rebounds to muscle Arizona out of a defensive struggle and give the Wildcats a 68-45 win over San Diego State on Saturday at what is now called Mortgage Matchup Center.

The Wildcats shot just 37.9% from the field but held SDSU to 26.3% and outerebounded the Aztecs 52-28 thanks in large part to their big men inside.

Koa Peat and Jaden Bradley each had 11 points to lead UA in scoring while Anthony Dell’Orso, Brayden Burries and Ivan Kharchenkov each added 10 points. Awaka had nine points to go with his 15 rebounds in a typically efficient 22 minutes.

San Diego State guard Elzie Harrington (3) looks to shoot between Arizona forward Koa Peat (10) and center Motiejus Krivas, front right, during the first half Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. 

Rick Scuteri, Associated Press

Leading just 28-27 at halftime and 33-31 four minutes into the second half, the Wildcats went on a 20-5 run to take control the game over the middle of the second half. UA outrebounded SDSU 30-11 in the second half and committed just one turnover, after coughing up 10 in the first half.

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The win moved the Wildcats to 11-0 and left them likely to assemble a perfect nonconference record with only home games left against Bethune-Cookman (Monday) and South Dakota State (Dec. 29) before they open Big 12 play on Jan. 3 at Utah.

In the first half, Dell’Orso hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in the first half to give the Arizona Wildcats a 28-27 halftime lead.

San Diego State guard Sean Newman Jr., right, drives past Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) during the first half Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. 

Rick Scuteri, Associated Press

Arizona shot just 36.0% from the field and missed all nine other 3-pointers it tried in the first half, while the Wildcats also turned the ball over 10 times. The Aztecs scored nine points off those turnovers, while UA did not score any points off SDSU’s six turnovers.

Brayden Burries led UA with seven points but was 0 for 3 from 3-point range. Krivas and Awaka both went scoreless, though Krivas grabbed seven rebounds and Awaka five.

The Wildcats were trailing 27-22 with 1:49 left when they benefited from a technical foul call against SDSU coach Brian Dutcher. UA guard Jaden Bradley picked up a foul from the Aztecs’ Sean Newman and shot the first of two free throws when Dutcher continued to argue the call and was whistled for a tech.

Dell’Orso then shot two technical free throws, making the first and missing the second, before Bradley stepped back in to hit his second and cut SDSU’s lead to 27-25.

Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe

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