(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)
Before the crowd of 14,731 showed up to Wells Fargo Arena, before ASU got to its pregame shootaround and even before the team got to watch film as it normally does before shootaround, coach Bobby Hurley was running sprints.
“We’re on the court and we’re like ‘what’re we doing, we’re not dressed’ we’re like ‘what’s going on?’” senior forward Zylan Cheatham said. “He makes us read each game from the moment he got here, each ASU-U of A matchup and reads the score, and every point differential he ran a line for each point.”
“So, the year we lost by 38 he ran 38 lines, and he ran a total of I want to say like probably 100- I don’t even know. He’s just sitting here just running and we’re all on the sideline clapping and cheering him on and that was pretty much his message to us, so he’s a nut.”
It doesn’t end there, because Hurley made his point clear once finished with those sprints.
“The suffering’s over,” Cheatham said of Hurley’s message. “He’s going to suffer one more time and he’s going to go through what he’s went through in these last couple years and he said ‘it stops tonight,’ and obviously it did.”
ASU (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12) outplayed Arizona (14-8, 5-4) when it mattered most, finishing off the Wildcats in overtime to prevail 95-88.
The victory was Hurley’s first over Arizona, as the last time ASU won this matchup was four years ago, coincidentally the last time they played before Hurley got hired by the Sun Devils.
“He makes you want to go to war for him,” Cheatham said. “He makes you feel like you’re capable of more than you are, and like I said we just try to come out and do our jobs.”
The Sun Devils did their part tonight, winning their fourth of the last five games in an effort led by Cheatham’s career-high 22 rebounds, plus 11 points for his ninth double-double of the season, in addition to sophomore guard Remy Martin’s career-high 31 points, plus a team-high eight assists.
“Remy was spectacular tonight, especially with his shot-making and his assists,” Hurley said. “And Zylan, again, over 20 rebounds I mean it’s insane what he’s doing out there for this team.”
The game was close throughout the night, despite the fact that ASU led for three-fourths of the first half. Redshirt junior Rob Edwards led both teams with 13 points off 3-for-5 shooting from three in the opening frame. He went on to score 19 points, second on the team behind Martin, thanks to 6-for-8 free throw shooting in the second half and added a team-best two steals.
“Rob Edwards really bounced back from the USC game, played very well,” Hurley said.
ASU, leading by only three at halftime, opened up a nine-point lead in the second half’s opening minutes. But that 44-35 lead would be the most they were ahead by all night, as the Wildcats stayed in the game thanks to consistently made free throws and offensive rebounds.
“First half, I thought the way we played we should’ve been up more than we were, and that was a little frustrating,” Hurley said. “We held them to low shooting percentages, we got to the free-throw line we did a lot of things well just the scoreboard didn’t show it as much.”
Senior forward Ryan Luther in particular became an issue, as Arizona was able to consistently get Martin to switch and defend him shooting threes. Luther shot 3-for-5 from deep in the second half, scoring 13 points to finish tied for a team-high 19 total points on the game, in which he went 5-for-8 from three.
A triple from sophomore guard Alex Barcello finally tied the game for UA in the second half at the 10:56 mark, and a floater from sophomore guard Brandon Randolph- two of his five second half points after leading the team with 12 in the first- put the Wildcats in front 61-59 with eight minutes to play.
“We had to change up some of our ball-screen coverages because they were getting some things happening,” coach Hurley said, “whether it was getting in the paint, or the roll, or hitting a three-point shooter they played pretty good offense. 14-for-28 from three is an impressive number from Arizona.”
That effort was led by senior guard Justin Coleman late, as he scored 16 second half points thanks to shooting 2-for-4 from three and making all six of his free throws.
Arizona led by as much as six with seven minutes to play, but Martin and the Sun Devils made sure everyone knew this isn’t your parents’ ASU team. The sophomore hit a pair of key threes down the stretch, and ASU was within one by the time UA called a timeout at 4:29.
The break didn’t stop ASU’s momentum, as Martin hit a reverse layup, sophomore forward Romello White picked off a pass down low which eventually led to a Martin-to-Cheatham alley-oop that put ASU back ahead 75-72 with just over three minutes left.
ASU stayed consistent and remained ahead by three until the final 30 seconds with freshman guard Luguentz Dort (15 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds), White (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Edwards all contributing as well.
But Coleman wouldn’t let the Wildcats go down without a fight, hitting a pull-up three from the top of the key with 25 seconds to go, tying the game at 83. The Sun Devils inbounded, called a timeout but still botched the last possession, which ended in Dort airballing a three to effectively send the game to OT.
That’s when the Sun Devils caught a second wind thanks to a sold-out crowd and its high level of stamina.
“Our conditioning pays off the way these guys work in practice and push each other,” Hurley said. “To have guys that just have the motor, guys like Zylan and Remy and (Dort) just like don’t really get tired and they can stand up to playing these kind of minutes in overtime.”
ASU jumped out of the gate in the extra session, going on a 7-0 run thanks to a putback by Cheatham and a couple of made free-throws plus a three from Martin, hardly looking back after that.
The only point at which Arizona looked like they had any shot at salvaging the extra period was an offensive board off a missed free-throw that gave them another possession down 92-88 with under a minute to go.
But White’s rebound off Coleman’s missed shot all but sealed the deal with 45 seconds left, as Martin iced the game by making 3-of-4 free throws after that and securing the victory.
“The fans give us that burst of energy that every program needs,” Martin said. “Everybody was there, the student section was there, they were cheering us on from start to finish and that just shows what ASU is about now. It’s a change of culture, it’s time for us to do what we’re capable of doing.”
The Sun Devils return to action next Thursday, February 7 when they host the Washington State Cougars. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on Pac-12 Networks.
