• By Bruce Pascoe Arizona Daily Star

After Arizona finished its nonconference season at 13-0, forward Koa Peat said he felt good about how it's going heading into the Big 12, adding that he was looking forward to physical battles during conference play.

While polishing off its perfect nonconference run Monday, Arizona took its balanced attack to another extreme.

In UA's 99-71 win over South Dakota State on Monday at McKale Center, six Wildcats scored in double figures and three of them collected double-doubles, the first time a UA trio has done so in three years.

Notably, one of those double-doubles came from point guard Jaden Bradley, who had never collected one before during his four-year college career. Also notably: One of the double-doubles did not come from Tobe Awaka.

UA's backup post player entered the game averaging 10.4 rebounds and already has two double doubles this season before collecting "only" seven rebounds to go with 10 points on Monday.  But part of that likely had to do with the fact that UA's two other primary post players, Koa Peat and Motiejus Krivas, did have double-doubles.

While Bradley had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his double double, Peat had 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds while Krivas had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley (0) lines up a shot as South Dakota State Jackrabbits guard Jaden Jackson (14) and South Dakota State Jackrabbits forward Caleb Delzell (5) defend in the first half during a game at McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. on December 29, 2025.

All that was enough to help the Wildcats put away their somewhat tricky mid-major opponent. The Jackrabbits hit 10 of 22 3-pointers and played a defense that tried to fill gaps and pack the inside, prompting UA to attempt 23 of its own 3s, of which it made nine.

"We knew coming in that they were a very gappy defensive team," Bradley said. "So I was just telling my shooters, `stay ready, and my bigs just simple pocket passes, and they do the rest."

Some of those passes helped Bradley become the first Wildcat to dish double-digit assists since Kerr Kriisa, now playing for Cincinnati, had 11 against Oregon State in January 2023.

While Peat’s college career high in scoring so far remains the 30 points he scored against Florida in his college debut on Nov. 3, his previous high in rebounding was 12 at UConn on Nov. 19 and he entered Monday's game in a distant third place among UA rebounders at 4.9, well behind Awaka and Krivas (8.1).

"Coach always tells us to play with that energy and playing with the edge, so it's something I've been trying to put in my game more," Peat said. "Just screaming at the crowd, little stuff like that gets the crowd in it, and it's special here in McKale."

Even though South Dakota State hit its 10 3-pointers, the Wildcats held the Jackrabbits to 40.6% shooting overall while hitting 53.2% themselves -- and outrebounding them 45-30.

Leading 51-35 at halftime, Arizona built a 20-point lead three minutes into the second half but and was ahead 75-54 with 7:32 left when it went on a 10-0 run to pretty much put the game out of reach, though not by as much as all of UA's other home wins against mid- and low-major teams.

"We know they're a really good mid major program that has the opportunity to win their conference every single season and has been to numerous NCAA tournaments," UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.

"I was just really impressed with their physicality and the effort they played with. We weren't able to just push them out of the way. They fought back, and there was a really physical game, and that was great. It's exactly what we needed."

In the first half, Peat had 16 points and eight rebounds to help Arizona take a 51-35 halftime lead.

Peat scattered his scoring throughout the half from a variety of locations, including the first 3-pointer of his college career three minutes into the game after he had missed his first six long-range attempts.

Thanks to Awaka, Peat also scored on two straight notable UA possessions in the middle of the half. On the first one, Awaka tipped a missed shot from South Dakota State’s Damon Wilkinson with his right hand, then reached around Jackrabbits guard Luke Haertle with his left hand to grab the ball – and dished to Peat, who missed two shots before making a third in front of the basket.

On UA’s next possession, Awaka captured a defensive rebound and then later dished from the perimeter into Peat, who scores inside again to give UA a 32-18 lead with 10:16 left.

While the Jackrabbits kept the game from becoming an early blowout by hitting 6 of 9 3 pointers before halftime, Arizona held South Dakota State to 40.0% shooting overall and outrebounded the Jackrabbits 24-13. 

Arizona built an 18-point lead, 43-25, with six minutes left when Bradley hit a pair of free throws, but the Jackrabbits cut it to 45-32 just before the final media timeout of the half on a 3-pointer from forward Matthew Mors.

The win moved the Wildcats (13-0) unbeaten into a January conference opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Tommy Lloyd. UA was 6-0 entering their Pac-12 opener in 2022-23 before losing at Utah but that game was played in early December.

The Utes will again host the Wildcats for a conference opener Saturday at 2 p.m., this time in Big 12 play, before UA will return to host its first conference home game of the season on Jan. 7 against Kansas State.

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe