(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (21-9, 12-6 Pac-12) already had the two-seed in the Pac-12 locked up, they already achieved a 20-win season, but nevertheless played Arizona (17-14, 8-10) like it was their most important game of the season.
In a sense it was, as the Sun Devils are sitting on the NCAA tournament bubble and need every victory they can get if they want to clinch the program’s first consecutive NCAA tournament appearances since 1980-81. The urgency showed and the Devils picked up a 72-64 victory.
“I knew coming in that if we got this (win) there would be no doubt,” coach Bobby Hurley said of the team’s NCAA tournament outlook. “We have a good record, we’ve had quality wins and we’re at 12 wins in our conference so you really can’t ask for more.”
The victory sends the team into the Pac-12 tournament with the momentum of a two-game win streak. It’s a far different look than last season’s team that stumbled into tournament season reeling from a one-point loss on senior day before a forgettable 12-point loss to Colorado to open the Pac-12 tournament.
Today’s victory was a fresh sight for Sun Devil fans, as ASU last swept the season series with Arizona in 2009- James Harden’s final season in Tempe- and last won a game at McKale Center on February 21, 2010.
The victorious effort was led by sophomore guard Remy Martin, who flirted with a triple double scoring 27 points, adding eight rebounds and seven assists, leading both teams in all three categories.
“Remy was tremendous,” Hurley said, “just the shot-making and big plays down the stretch.”
An example of one of Martin’s many key buckets came around the seven-minute mark in the second half.
After continuing to play even for the first five minutes of the second half, following a 33-33 halftime score, ASU opened up their lead to eight by going on a 14-5 run from about the 15 to 10-minute marks in the second, thanks to a 10-2 advantage in fast break points during those first 10 minutes of the second.
Arizona had a response though, going on a 5-0 run over a span of 1:35 to force Hurley to call a timeout with 8:25 to go.
Although senior guard Justin Coleman hit a three to give the Wildcats the lead back at 7:26, Martin responded with a floater 11 seconds later to get ASU back ahead 55-54.
The Sun Devils took that advantage into the final media timeout at 6:51, and never gave up the lead for the remainder of the game.
“I took it upon myself as well just to say I’m not going to let us lose,” Martin said of his halftime mentality, “I’m here for (these) guys no matter what.”
“I just felt that I could get to the basket and create. One thing I just- too many turnovers for me, that’s not like myself so that’s one of the things I need to clean up, but I wanted to be aggressive because I wanted to create for my teammates, and they’re actually one of the teams that played man against us, so that’s why I had to be aggressive.”
Freshman guard Luguentz Dort had another efficient showing, as he was the game’s second-leading scorer with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field, including 3-for-7 from deep, while adding three assists, two rebounds and not turning the ball over.
However, he was more of a presence early, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the first 21 minutes of the game as he played the late first and entire second half with three fouls.
“I know today that I was in foul trouble but I was still trying to keep my man in front of me and everything,” Dort said. “I just felt like we did a really great job taking charge, rebounding and not letting them have second chances or anything.”
Even though Dort hit foul trouble, in addition to senior center De’Quon Lake late in the game, Arizona had it worse.
First, freshman guard Brandon Williams fouled out at the 13:25 mark when he was called for a charge on sophomore forward Kimani Lawrence. Then, Coleman fouled out with just over five minutes to play, which ASU was able to take full advantage of down the stretch.
The Sun Devils increased that one-point lead to 63-57 by 4:30, thanks to a steal and pair of free throws off the resulting foul on Lawrence, and a pair of buckets by Martin had the lead out to 67-58 with just under three minutes to go.
But in a game that saw long stretches of sloppy play and a plethora of charges called, Hurley believes it wasn’t just a balanced offensive attack that won this game.
“If you’ve watched all the great wins that we’ve had this year there’s been a high-level finishing component to our defense late in games,” Hurley said. “Moving our feet, making teams shoot tough shots and then rebounding…when we are that team and we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
Lake was a part of this effort, adding a season-high three steals, in addition to senior forward Zylan Cheatham, who blocked two shots in addition to 13 points and six rebounds on the night.
But perhaps the biggest unsung hero of the night was Lawrence, who had several timely plays en route to 10 points, two rebounds, two steals, and even a blocked three-point shot late in the contest.
Those supporting performances all loomed large in making up for a scoreless night from junior guard Rob Edwards in addition to the absence of freshman Taeshon Cherry.
“We needed him, especially with Taeshon being out,” Hurley said. “He’s practiced well…his defense, his rebounding and then his free throws- made some clutch free throws- and just played a real good all-around game.”
Senior forward Ryan Luther and sophomore guard Brandon Randolph both led Arizona with 12 points, and junior big man Chase Jeter was a presence down low with 11 points, going to the foul line a team-high eight times.
However, the Wildcats 5-for-19 three-point shooting on the night combined with eight second-half turnovers and a 6-for-12 effort from the free throw line all did them in, and all of those stats further reflect a strong performance in the finale for ASU.
Next up for the Sun Devils is the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals Thursday at 6 p.m., when they will face the winner of UCLA vs. Stanford.
