San Diego State vs. Arizona

PHX Arena –  Phoenix, Arizona

TV: ESPN2

The Aztecs travel to Phoenix to battle with No. 1 Arizona for the Naismith Hall of Fame Series.

San Diego State is 6-3 on the season, coming off a stressful win over Air Force. Brian Dutcher dislikes playing the Falcons so much that he describes it as an annual visit to the dentist.

The game is now behind the Aztecs, but the win feels good heading into what will be another tough test this season. SDSU is fortunate enough to get the opportunity to play the two best teams in the nation this season. Current No. 2 Michigan dominated the Aztecs by 40 points in the Player’s Era Tournament in Las Vegas. One month later, the Aztecs are set to face the No. 1 team in the country.

This contest will be on a neutral court. The game will be played at PHX Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns. Stanford and Colorado will tip off around 6 pm local time, followed by the Aztecs and Wildcats for the main event.

SDSU and Arizona’s game will end the 2025 Hall of Fame Series, which has taken place all over the country this season. Arizona has been a part of this event twice already this season. Arizona and reigning national champions, Florida, started the series in Las Vegas early in the year. The Wildcats beat the Gators by six points. Weeks later, Arizona and UCLA met at the Intuit Dome in LA to battle with UCLA an old Pac-12 rivalry. The Wildcats won by four.

Arizona is 10-0 on the year with wins against some very good teams: No. 3 Florida, No. 15 UCLA, No. 3 UConn, No. 20 Auburn, and No. 12 Alabama.

“Between walk-through and the start of the game, I got a chance to watch U of A,” Dutcher said after the Air Force game. “They are very physical, very talented, very well-coached, and we have to play well to beat them. Our intention is to go in there with a game plan with things that have to happen to have a chance to win. We’ll try and see if we are capable of doing that.”

Getting to Know the Wildcats

Arizona, usually every season, has a high-powered offense that can score 100 points on any given night. This season, the Wildcats average 90.0 points per game, tied for 18th in the country with Tulsa. Arizona’s 52.7% field goal percentage is 7th in the country, so this team does a great job of putting the ball in the basket at a very high rate.

Arizona does not shoot the three-ball often, attempting only 16.8 three-pointers per game and averaging only 6.4 made triples. With the rate at which SDSU allows the deep ball, this could be a serious factor in Saturday night’s matchup.

The Aztecs and Wildcats are similar on the defensive end this season. SDSU has the slight blocking advantage at 4.7 per game compared to the U of A’s 4.2. Arizona has the steals advantage at 8.9 compared to SDSU’s 8.3. Arizona, however, is a much better rebounding team, grabbing 42.8 per contest. SDSU is at just 35.2.

“They are similar to Michigan, and we had seen them earlier,” BJ Davis responded after the Air Force win about what he’s seen from Arizona this season. “We kind of know what we are up against. We know what we have to do to contain them. Our transition defense needs to be on point with a team like this, so just take the games we already played and use them for games we are about to play.”

Five players on the team average double digits in scoring, and then their 6th best scorer is at 9.2 per contest, so there are many threats offensively. Freshman forward Koa Peat, an Arizona native, is the team’s best scorer this season. He averages 14.3 points on 55.7% shooting. He adds 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest.

Jaden Bradley is second on the team in scoring at 13.9 per game. He is shooting 55.7% from the field as well, but also shoots 57.1% from beyond the arc. He can light up the arena from deep if the Aztecs aren’t careful. Brayden Burries is third on the team, averaging 13.8 points on 50% shooting. All three of these guys can cause trouble for SDSU’s defense.

Motiejus Krivas is the latest international big man to play for Arizona. At 7-foot-2, Krivas scores at a very high rate of 63.1% and blocks 1.6 shots per contest. He grabs 7.9 rebounds per game, which is second on the team. Tobe Awaka actually leads the team in rebounding at 10.2 per game. The 6-foot-8 big man from New York is a strong force in the paint. He grabbed 15 boards in the win over Alabama last week and has a season high of 18 against Utah Tech.

roll the highlights pic.twitter.com/N2O5hwEFUb

— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) December 17, 2025

The Wildcats are going to have a ton of local supporters at the game. They will be in enemy territory; however, the atmosphere for this event will close out a great night of college hoops on ESPN2.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.