BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — After struggling in Arizona’s first three games against ranked teams last month, freshman guard Brayden Burries broke out Saturday in convincing fashion.
Before a near-capacity crowd at Legacy Arena and an ESPN audience, Burries poured in 28 points while hitting 5 of 10 3-pointers, helping the top-ranked Wildcats beat the Crimson Tide at their own bomb-happy ways and get out of Legacy Arena with a 96-75 victory after trailing by two at the half.
"We didn't say anything crazy at halftime," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. "It was just 'Hey, let's see if we can come out and land the first punch and see what happens.' Fortunately, we landed a few haymakers and made some defensive plays and obviously Brayden got in his own little flow, and it was pretty special."
Arizona men's basketball still took far fewer than half of its shots from beyond the 3-point arc but its 20-rebound edge on the glass made for plenty of extra shots, and the Wildcats ended up making 10 of the 26 3s they did take (38.5%).
Alabama (7-3) took 32 of its 56 shots from 3-point range but made just 12 of the 32.
The top-ranked Wildcats (9-0) also won the game easily because they scored 22 points on 15 Alabama turnovers and because big men Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka dominated the glass. Krivas had 14 points and 14 rebounds while Awaka added another 15 rebounds to go with seven points.
It was the first time in at least the last 30 years that Arizona has had two players with 14 or more rebounds in the same game.
The two helped Arizona gain a 52-32 rebounding edge that helped it offset an overall shooting night (42.9%) that was actually worse than Alabama’s (44.6).
"We really wanted to come out and put it to them on the glass," Lloyd said. "We feel like we have an advantage there on most nights."
Alabama forwards Amari Allen (5) and Aiden Sherrell (22) work against Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) during the first half Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Birmingham, Ala.
Trailing 41-39 at halftime, Arizona fell behind 43-39 after Latrell Wrightsell hit a pair of free throws but immediately rattled off 10 straight points to take a 49-43 lead with 16:26 left. During that run, they received a 3 from Burries, a steal and layup from Ivan Kharchenkov and a steal and 3-pointer from Jaden Bradley.
"We just haven't had very good starts to the second half," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "We came out, didn't have a good start, and then it just progressed. We got worse."
Just over two minutes after UA's 10-0 run, they turned the game clearly in their favor with an 11-0 run fueled mostly by Burries.
The freshman shooting guard had seven points while also stealing the ball and feeding an assist to Awaka off the steal during the run, after which UA held a 67-49 lead with 11:22 to go.
The Wildcats led by no fewer than 15 points the rest of the way, and often by more than 20, while "U of A" chants began to break out in the corner of the arena behind their bench.
In the first half, Labaron Philon had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, including a go-ahead jumper with 21 seconds left, to help Alabama take a 41-39 halftime lead.
In a game of offensive polar opposites — with Alabama firing off 3s more than half the time it shoots the ball, and Arizona doing so only just over a quarter of the time — both teams actually shot the long ball often early Saturday.
The Crimson Tide hit 7 of 17 3-pointers in the first half. Yet Arizona was 5 of 17 from 3 — including the first of Krivas’ college career — after averaging just 16.0 3-point attempts per game entering Saturday.
Burries was actually only 1 for 6 from 3 in the first half before hitting all four 3s he took in the second half.
"The first half I was confused on why they were, playing off, like short close outs," Burries said, saying teammates encouraged him at halftime. "Jaden Bradley was coming up to me saying, like, `Yo, we gonna need you. Keep shooting They believe in me. So that's all I needed to hear."
Bradley, a former Alabama guard, led Arizona in the first half with 11 points and three assists while Krivas had eight points and six rebounds. The Wildcats shot just 33.3% overall from the field while Alabama shot 50% but Arizona kept it close in part by outrebounding the Crimson Tide 24-19.
Arizona took leads of up to seven points early and led 27-26 after Bradley hit two free throws with 8:51 left, though a successful coaching challenge by Alabama’s Nate Oats erased a goaltending call that would have given Bradley a chance for a three-point play.
But Alabama went on a 3-point flurry from there, getting long-range shots from Houston Mallette, Philon and Wrightsell — and a two-point jumper from Wrightsell — to take a 37-30 lead with seven minutes left.
The Wildcats then tied it back up at 37 and went ahead on a jumper from Koa Peat with 1:51 left and the game stayed within a possession until halftime.
The win kept Arizona undefeated heading into a home game Tuesday against Abilene Christian. The Wildcats have three home games and a Dec. 20 date with San Diego State in Phoenix remaining in the calendar year.
