Arizona rides a pair of runs to win conference opener over ASU
Arizona State men’s basketball had the upset brewing.
They had No. 8 Arizona on the ropes, 28-19 with nine minutes remaining in the opening half, riding what has personified them under head coach Bobby Hurley -- grit.
Then, it all came undone.
The Wildcats (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12) caught fire, sparking a 14-0 run to regain a lead they would never give back to give them a 94-82 victory over ASU (10-4, 0-1 Pac-12) Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena in the Pac-12 conference opener.
“We were just flat,” senior forward Willie Atwood said. “We were flat when the pop stopped for us (with the lead) and they just caught up with us.”
Added senior guard Gerry Blakes: “Coach was saying when we were up nine or 10, what we did was that our activity gave us that lead and we clearly forgot why we were up as much as we were at that time.”
The Wildcats dominated inside, feeding sophomore center Dusan Ristic (10 points, four rebounds) and the returning Kaleb Tarczewski (eight points, five rebounds) inside as ASU senior center Eric Jacobsen struggled to deal with a nagging ankle injury.
“In the first half they were just going inside and we weren’t digging as much in the second half,” Blakes said. “They got the big guys going -- they see the rim and they kept attacking.”
Arizona also dominated the boards, limiting the Sun Devils’ strength by winning the battle 37-30 and boosting their 55.6 percent shooting for the game. ASU’s shooting, which carried them in the early part of the game, faltered as they shot 8-for-25 from deep compared to Arizona’s 7-for-12 mark.
Senior guard Gabe York led the Wildcat wave in the second half, taking an elbow from Atwood before knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers to extend the Arizona lead to as much as 16. York finished with 22 points on 4-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers, adding five rebounds and six assists.
“(York) hit some big shots in the second half when the game was still pretty close, and I thought his 3-point shots there kind of opened things up for them,” ASU coach Bobby Hurley said.
Wildcat guard Alonzo Trier, playing in the rivalry for the first time, showed maturity down the stretch in tallying 20 points and five rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting.
Hurley wouldn’t let his team go off quietly in his first taste of the Territorial Cup, as the Sun Devils trimmed the digit to as low as six points in the final minutes.
“Our activity is always going to dictate the way we play, along with our grit and our grind,” Blakes said.
Sophomore point guard Tra Holder tried sparking yet another late run for the Sun Devils, tallying a career-high 24 points on 7-for-16 shooting with four assists. Junior forward Obinna Oleka enjoyed a standout performance, adding 17 points off the bench and making a pair of critical defensive plays at the rim.
But they fell short, as Hurley picked up two technical fouls in the final two minutes to secure his first ejection at ASU with the frustration building.
“I really wouldn’t change what I did today in terms of anything that happened, and that’s as far as I’m going to comment about any of that,” Hurley said. “I always want the spotlight to be on the performers and the guys in the game, and it shouldn’t be on anything but that. That goes for all of us: coaches, officials, everyone. It should always be about the players. Players should decide the game.”
Arizona shot 36 free throws, making 27 compared to ASU’s 16-for-19 mark.
“He fights for us,” Atwood said. “He wants us to play hard, and he wishes he was out there on the court, too. We try to get our fire from him.”
On Sunday, the fire was not enough. The Wildcats accomplished what they could not do in their last two trips to Tempe -- win, like top-10 teams do.
Hurley and his squad will get their second crack at their first conference win on the road Thursday against USC. Tip-off is expected for 8:30 p.m. Arizona time and will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.