Center Motiejus Krivas scored a career high 25 points while guard Brayden Burries continued his torrid play while Arizona beat Kansas State 101-76 on Wednesday at McKale Center.
After collecting 17 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 3 at Utah, Burries scored 28 points against K-State, tying the career-high he set on Dec. 13 against Alabama, while making all 11 two-pointers he took and 1 of 5 3-pointers.Â
While Krivas’ double-double was his third of the season, forward Koa Peat also chipped in one of his own with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Krivas again produced at a career-high level despite having tape wrapped around his right wrist and index finger, after appearing to tweak that area against San Diego State on Dec. 20.
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) gets to full extension to try to tip a rebound from Kansas State center Dorin Buca (22) during the second half of their Big 12 game, January 7, 2026, Tucson, Ariz.
"Obviously, Krivas is a really good player," Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said. "And with Arizona, you've got to pick your poison. The problem is, it's all poison."
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The Wildcats were only 3 for 16 from 3-point range but, as usual, did not rely much on the long ball in a game when they outrebounded K-State 55-32 and scored 20 more points in the paint than the Wildcats of Kansas (54-34). All three of UA's primary post players picked up double-digit rebounds: Krivas (12), Tobe Awaka had 11 and Koa Peat had 10
UA shot 49.3% overall and held K-State to 33.8%, while Arizona also scored 14 more points at the line, making 30 of 39 free throws while K-State was 16 of 19. Three K-State players fouled out.
"Arizona did a really good job of pounding it inside and putting us in difficult situations where the refs had to blow the whistle," Tang said.
The Wildcats missed all eight 3-pointers they took in the first half and were 0-9 before Burries hit one from the right wing to give UA a 75-57 lead with 11:33 left.
But thanks to Krivas and the Wildcats' ability to get the ball to him, Tang's response to UA's shaky outside shooting was pretty much negated.
"They only hit one 3 that during a stretch that mattered, so our goal was to pack it in," Tang said. "But they were still able to throw that thing in to Krivas. We didn't do a very good job of shrinking it and making those passes inside harder. The other thing is to cut down on our fouling. They shot 40 free throws and we were fouling, right? We have to clean that up."
While the Wildcats led 51-36, their lead shrank to 58-49 by the time K-State's Nate Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 16:11 left. Still, Arizona was never really threatened, going on a 10-0 run late in the second half to take an 89-65 lead heading into the final four minutes.
Arizona began the game by tearing into its second straight Big 12 opponent early, going up 14-6 after a 10-0 run early and a 51-36 lead at halftime.
UA, which had taken a 14-2 lead early at Utah on Saturday in an eventual 19-point win, this time kept K-State scoreless for four minutes and 20 seconds in which K-State missed all six shots it took during that time.
Arizona built a 17-point lead after just 12 minutes, though a string of five free throws within 26 seconds from Nate Johnson briefly cut UA’s lead to 12. Johnson took the first two free throws after Peat was assessed a technical foul for pointing at a K-State player after he dunked, then Johnson took the next three after Ivan Kharchenkov fouled him from behind the 3-point line.
Burries also picked up where he left off during a tear at Utah. After he had 17 points and 11 rebounds at Utah for his first career double-double, Burries led the Wildcats with 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half Wednesday.
Burries has averaged 19.6 points in seven games dating back to his 28-point breakout game against Alabama in Birmingham on Dec. 13.
"He obviously played a great game today, as well as I thought a lot of other guys played really well," Lloyd said.Â
By the end of his postgame press conference, Lloyd marveled at how point guard Jaden Bradley hadn't even really been discussed --- even though Bradley had nine points and five assists while making two free throws immediately after falling hard on his upper body under the basket while getting fouled.Â
Earlier in the day, Bradley and Peat had been named to the 25-player , too.
"It just says so much about him that we could talk about all of those other guys without bringing him up," Lloyd said. "He does take a hard fall, he stays in the game. He makes the free throws. I mean, he's a bad man. He's a bad man, and he's an absolute winner."

