TOP-RANKED WILDCATS DEFEAT JACKRABBITS

Monday, December 29

Tucson, Ariz.

8 p.m.

South Dakota State University

7-8,0-0Summit League

Arizona

13-0,0-0Big 12

South Dakota St.

Arizona

a men's basketball player shots a ball towards a basketball hoop

Damon Wilkinson

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

12/29/2025 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

TUCSON, Ariz. – South Dakota State hung around with No. 1/2 Arizona in the opening 20 minutes before the top-ranked Wildcats pulled away in the second half in a 99-71 victory on Monday, Dec. 29, in the McKale Center.

Arizona scored the contest's first five points, but SDSU responded with five straight. Jaden Jackson drained a 3-pointer and Kalen Garry hit a jumper to tie the score at 5-5 at the 18-minute mark.

Four straight points by SDSU's Damon Wilkinson kept the margin within single digits in the early going. A seven-point scoring run for Arizona put the game into double digits for good as the Wildcats went ahead, 32-16, with 10:16 remaining in the first half.

Arizona led by 18 when a Wilkinson layup and Matthew Mors 3-pointer on consecutive possessions made it a 45-32 score as the clock dipped to 4:17. The Wildcats ensuingly called timeout. The home side scored six straight points out of that break, and despite a Jackson trey for the Jacks with under a minute left, went into halftime ahead 51-35.

Garry hit the opening shot of the second half, but the Jackrabbits couldn't ever get the margin closer than 14 the rest of the way. The Wildcats extended the lead to 31 with 5:14 remaining, but the Jacks responded to cut the deficit to 23 before eventually falling by a 99-71 final score.

South Dakota State fell to 7-8 in the loss. Arizona improved to 13-0 overall as both teams completed their non-conference schedules.

NOTES

Arizona improved to 2-0 all-time against South Dakota State.
The Wildcats had six double digit scorers in the contest. Three Arizona players had double-doubles. Koa Peat had a team highs with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Motiejus Krivas also had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Bradley scored 13 points and dished out 10 assists.
Arizona had several advantages across the board. The Wildcats outshot the Jackrabbits 53-40% from the field. They also had a 45-30 edge in rebounding. Arizona as a team went 24 of 31 (77.4%) at the charity stripe while SDSU was 9 of 17 shooting free throws. The Wildcats had 46 points in the paints to the Jacks' 26.
South Dakota State was strong from deep when it got shots off from 3-point range. The Jackrabbits were 10-for-22 and their 45.5% clip was their second best of the season.
The Jackrabbits had three double-digit scorers. Garry matched his season-high 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Jackson scored 18 points and Wilkinson registered 11. Bubz Alvarez had a team-high four assists.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State begins Summit League play at home on Thursday. The Jackrabbits host Omaha inside First Bank & Trust Arena as part of a doubleheader with the SDSU women's basketball team. The SDSU men's squad will tipoff against the Mavericks at 4:15 p.m.

-GoJacks.com-