Brayden Burries had 20 points to help the Arizona Wildcats beat Abilene Christian 96-62 on Tuesday at McKale and avoid a hangover after their big weekend in Alabama.
Burries had 28 points on Saturday to lead Arizona to a 96-75 win over Alabama in Birmingham, and Arizona's presumably upbeat airplane home didn’t land until 3 a.m. Sunday, but UA still managed to shake it all off and beat the Wildcats of Texas with little trouble Tuesday.
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) drives against Abilene Christian guard Cbo Newton (5) during the first half at McKale Center, Dec. 16, 2025.
While Arizona did have a season-high 19 turnovers against an Abilene Christian team that ranks 32nd in the defensive turnover percentage, the Wildcats hit 30 of 45 field goals, including 6 of 14 from 3-point range. UA also outrebounded ACU 28-23 and, thanks to the Texas Wildcats' aggressiveness, took 22 more free-throw attempts.
"They're a scrappy defensive team," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "They do a great job stealing the basketball, putting pressure on you, and denying some passes you would normally get.
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"So you want to be able to attack that pressure. But one of the downfalls of the way they play, there's a lot of fouls. They have a high foul rate. So we don't overthink that."
ACU's defense made it easier for one individual to get to the free-throw line often early in Tuesday's game: Bradley hit all 10 free throws he took over the first 12 minutes of the game, and wound up scoring all 10 of his points from the line while adding seven rebounds.
The 10 made free throws was a career high for Bradley, who also hit 10 twice as a freshman at Alabama in 2022-23.
"We knew they were going to be aggressive," Bradley said. "That's what they hang their hat on, steals and just amping up on defense. So it's trying to get to the basket and make layups and just happened to be at the free throw line."
Meanwhile, it was Burries did most of his damage by driving inside for layups or jumpers. The freshman combo guard hit 9 of 11 shots while adding two assists, including an alley-top toss on the break to reserve freshman big man Sidi Gueye, who threw down a rim-rattling dunk.
Overall, Arizona shot a season-high 66.7% from the field and held ACU to just 35.7%.
Ahead 51-31 at halftime, Arizona continued building its lead into the 20s and went ahead 77-46 with 8:32 left on a jumper from Burries.
The comfortable lead gave Lloyd a chance to experiment with full-court pressure defense on a few possessions, while he inserted backup point guard Evan Nelson with 14 minutes left.
With nine minutes left, Gueye entered the game and didn’t take long to make an impact. The 6-11 freshman from Senegal blocked a shot from ACU’s Rich Smith with nine minutes left and then jammed in the alley oop feed from Burries – though Gueye fell for a fake from ACU’s Cbo Newton near the 3-point line on ACU’s next possession, and Newton sank a 3-pointer.
"Sidi is really talented, and he's a great kid, and he can catch up fast, so I want to get him in catch-up mode right now," Lloyd said. "You can see his ability out there and some flashes, but there's obviously more we need to get to," Lloyd said.
But even while Newton hit the 3 past Gueye, Arizona still held an 81-52 lead with 6:14 to go and, after Burries drove in for a layup on UA's next possession, Arizona led by more than 30 points the rest of the way.
Arizona also had little trouble early in the game. The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-2 lead and carried a 51-31 advantage into halftime.
While going 10 for 10 from the line, Bradley added six rebounds to help the Wildcats outrebound ACU 23-10 in the first half while Tobe Awaka added another six rebounds along with six points, a block and a steal. Burries had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Arizona guard Dwayne Aristode (2) dunks the ball before the match against Abilene Christian at McKale Center, Dec. 16, 2025.
Arizona shot 65.2% overall in the first half while taking just five of its 23 shots from 3-piont range, getting most of its scoring inside on the break or set plays. However, Arizona turned the ball over 11 times, leading to 13 ACU points, but held the visiting Wildcats of Texas to 29.6% shooting.
While jumping out to 10-2 and 19-6 leads early, Arizona was able to get one ACU starter out of the game in just 13 seconds.
ACU’s Joseph Venzant fouled Ivan Kharchenkov on his 3-pointer with 19:47 left in the first half and, after Kharchenkov made the free throw for a four-point play, picked up a foul on Arizona’s rebound, effectively getting called for two fouls without any time coming off the clock.
While Venzant returned with 11:16 left in the first half, he picked up his third foul less than two minutes later when contacting Bradley on the break and left the floor again. Venzant went scoreless while Newton led ACU (7-4) with 17 points.
Arizona (10-0) will next face San Diego State in Phoenix on Saturday. The Aztecs are 5-3 heading into their Mountain West Conference opener Wednesday against Air Force at SDSU's Viejas Arena.

