(Photo: Max Zepeda/WCSN)
TUCSON, Ariz. – As Tournament season quickly approaches, the value of each game for Arizona State men’s basketball increases as metrics sift through the teams to determine seedings in March. As the Sun Devils ventured to Tucson for a match against Arizona, the Wildcats hoped to celebrate with waves of goodbyes, which would generate a harsh reality for ASU – the realistic possibility of missing the Tournament after a historic open to the 2022-23 campaign.
While trailing by as many as 10 points with 6:30 remaining in the game, the optimism of a bid seemed to dwindle away. With how close the scoreboard read during the game, an opportunity for a quad-one win appeared to have seeped through the cracks, especially with a trip to Los Angeles looming next weekend.
But head coach Bobby Hurley and his squad battled back, outscoring the Wildcats 21-10 during the final six minutes. The scoring run nearly came up short, as redshirt junior guard DJ Horne’s 3-pointer missed with under four seconds left. But redshirt junior center Oumar Ballo split at the free throw line, yielding ASU with desperation as the clock read 2.9 seconds.
The ball found its way to fifth-year guard Desmond Cambridge Jr., who nailed a half-court heave to give ASU (20-9, 11-7 Pac-12) an 89-88 upset win over No. 7 Arizona (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12), granting the Sun Devils their first win in Tucson since 2019.
Suddenly, it was Hurley and the Sun Devils who were waving goodbye in celebration at the McKale Memorial Center.
“I still don’t know how to feel,” Cambridge said. “That was probably – that’s definitely – the craziest experience [and] the best game I’ve ever been a part of. But it literally hasn’t even set in yet.”
The rivalry battle consisted of 18 lead changes and 11 ties, with Arizona dominating the lead time 23 minutes to ASU’s 11:13. The Wildcats trailed 46-45 at halftime, but erupted in the opening moments of the second half, thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from fifth-year guard Courtney Ramey.
“I’ve been involved in playing Arizona for a number of years now, and this is just an epic game,” Hurley said. “I thought the quality of the game was very high level, very well played – we’re a very good defensive team and that’s like the best we could do – and so a lot of credit to [Arizona]. They’re a really good program, top teams in the country. So to come out here and do what we did today, it was pretty special.”
The Sun Devils were without freshman guard Austin Nunez, who saw action in all 28 games entering Saturday’s tilt and has become a key bench contributor. Additionally, ASU also found itself in foul trouble, forcing limitations on players who picked up fouls. In the final minutes of the game, senior guard Devan Cambridge fouled out after spending most of the night defending junior forward Azuolas Tubelis, who scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
“I said, ‘I don’t know who was going to be, but a couple of you guys are going to be in foul trouble, and we got to deal with it,’” Hurley explained what he told his players pregame. “It just happened to be [Devan Cambridge to foul out]. But he fought and he was given up several inches to Tubelis most of the time … he’s such a good leader. He plays so hard as a winner, and both brothers have been terrific to our program this year.
Arizona’s perimeter defense is an area of weakness, allowing 7.9 made 3-pointers on the season. Hurley’s offense, which historically relies on the deep ball to score, capitalized on its opposition, knocking down 11 3s.
Getting out to a first start was key for the Sun Devils, as the Wildcats can find success and run away with a game in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Devan Cambridge and Horne gifted ASU a 6-2 lead, helping the offense keep up with Arizona.
“If you look at Arizona, statistically, they’ve been a very impressive first-half team – in terms of scoring, they have a big differential – they go at teams right away. So we didn’t want a replay of our first matchup where we had to fight back from that deficit.”
The Sun Devils entered Tucson as an unranked team against Arizona, who has sat inside the AP top-25 poll all season. But the win marks the first time an unranked Sun Devils defeated a ranked Wildcats team in program history.
Beating the Wildcats on their home floor will help the Sun Devils in their quest to clinch a Tournament bid. ASU entered Saturday at 69 on KenPom’s rankings but rose to 59 after the victory. If Hurley and company can achieve a berth to dance in March, it would mark the first appearance in March Madness since 2018-19.
“I hope people are watching to see the level of the game,” Hurley said. “And that’s what [the] postseason asks for. They want teams that could perform like that on a national stage. I think you saw two teams that should be in postseason [play].”
