ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils Close Regular Season with Territorial Cup Matchup

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

After yet another road split, the Sun Devils will end the 2018-19 regular season on unfriendly ground as they head to Tucson to face the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday.

The Wildcats faced a seven-game losing streak this season, but seem to have bounced back after winning three of their last four games. The Sun Devils have won four of their last five and seem to be peaking at the right time headed into the Pac-12 Tournament.

“We love these games,” coach Bobby Hurley said. “You couldn’t ask for any better way to finish the season. We were in Oregon, we got challenged there, got hit and responded well against Oregon State. That helps you and this is no different. They’re going to be super ready to play. There’s a lot at stake. It’s their senior day and they expect to win there.”

The last time these two teams met, sophomore guard Remy Martin stole the show with 31 points in a 95-88 overtime home victory. This time, the crowd will be working against ASU in the McKale Center.

“It’s going to be a war,” senior center Zylan Cheatham said. “Without all that at stake, it’s just a rivalry. Obviously, you know how we feel about each other. It’s a really important game for both groups.” In his last outing against Arizona, Cheatham dominated the glass to the tune of 22 rebounds.

The game has big ramifications for the Sun Devils, who are still fighting for an NCAA Tournament bid. A few wins and Arizona State could find itself as an 11-seed in the Big Dance, but a few losses could swing the pendulum the opposite direction.

While ASU has an 8-1 record coming off losses this season, Hurley stressed that the squad can’t carry that mentality into the coming games.

“I told the guys, there’s no more time to lose and learn from it,” Hurley said. “We’ve got to get past that. These games now it’s single elimination time. We’ve got to string together multiple wins.”

With the majority of the season in the rearview mirror, Cheatham stated his focus is on closing the season as strong as possible.

“There’s no more time to relax,” he said. “We’ve dropped games that we feel like we shouldn’t have dropped. We put ourselves in this position in this position at this time so there’s no more time for relaxation. We’ll relax after the season after it’s all said and done. There’s no more margin of error, no more room for any of that type of stuff so that’s how we’re approaching every day.”

While Hurley ran sprints as motivation for his players before the prior meeting between these two teams, Cheatham noted the players shouldn’t need any added motivation to get fired up for this one.”At this point in the season if you don’t got an edge we’re in a lot deeper trouble than we expect,” Cheatham said. “We know what’s at stake, we know what type of environment we’re coming in.”The Territorial Cup may serve as a potential preview for a second-round matchup in the Pac-12 Tournament should both teams advance past the opening round. Arizona State has already secured the No. 2 spot, giving them a bye in round one. A loss could push Arizona down to 10th, setting them up to see the Devils again if they beat the seventh seed in round one.

The Sun Devils and the Wildcats tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. MST.