Same story, different day: ASU men’s basketball falls to Arizona 87-74

(Photo: Spencer Barnes/ WCSN)

TEMPE – With just under two minutes left in the second half, a herd of gold left their seats and headed for Desert Financial Arena’s exit doors.

The game was ending the way it had started: deafening chants of “U of A!” in Arizona State men’s basketball’s own home. All chance of salvation had gone by the wayside as No. 1 Arizona ran up the score to a game-high 20-point lead.

The Sun Devil fans who stuck it out until the end had to watch as the Wildcats took over every aspect of the game in dominant fashion.

It didn’t always look so bleak for ASU (11-11, 2-7 Big 12). The team jumped out to an early lead against its Goliath-like opponent, responding well to red-clad fans chanting their school’s abbreviation before tip-off. By the time the final whistle had blown Saturday afternoon, however, Arizona (22-0, 9-0) had proved, once again, to be the vastly superior team, winning 87-74.

“We’ve kind of done as good as we can do,” ASU head coach Bobby Hurley said. “We today, played as good a basketball (game) as this team was probably capable of.”

The Sun Devils stuck with the No. 1 team in the nation through the first 20 minutes of game action. Sophomore guard Noah Meeusen even propelled them into the break with a 3-pointer in the waning moments of the half, tying the game 38-38.

On the other side of the break, ASU couldn’t take advantage of the momentum it had set up for itself.

Two straight stops on the defensive side of the floor to start the second half could’ve given the Sun Devils a lead; instead, it led to two 3-pointers clanking off iron. ASU’s chance to assert itself at the start of the second half disappeared with a free-throw from true freshman phenom, forward Koa Peat, breaking the tie.

It was only a one-point swing, but the damage was done. The score would never be that close again.

“They opened the door even a little bit to start the second half,” Hurley said. “We got two stops right away, and then we couldn’t do anything with it at the offensive end to try and get a little bit of control to start the half. That was frustrating.”

U of A seemed to have all the answers during the frame. Dominance in the form of three separate six, seven and eight to nothing runs powered by 60% shooting from the field, 75% shooting from the charity stripe, 67% from beyond the arc, 15 points off turnovers and 22 points in the paint – all while outrebounding the Sun Devils 24-10 – carried the Wildcats to victory.

The 6-foot-8, 235 lbs. Peat led the way with 15 points in the half – giving Sun Devil fans a look at what it could’ve been like if Hurley’s recruitment of him had ended differently – but strong showings from senior guard Jaden Bradley, freshman guard Brayden Burries and 6-foot-7, 220 lbs. freshman forward Ivan Kharchenkov ensured that all five Wildcats starters ended the day with double digit points after 7-foot-2, 260 lbs. junior center Motiejus Krivas ended the first half with 11 points already in the bag.

It was U of A’s size and, specifically, their ability to score in the paint that wore down the Sun Devils over the course of the game.

“There are teams like Florida, Gonzaga, Arizona, BYU,” Hurley said. “That just have mastered the art of ducking in and taking help defense, and eliminating help defense, so that someone could go drive to the basket.”

ASU undoubtedly had a tough task against an Arizona team that found its groove in the second half, but it didn’t make its job any easier. Floor general senior point guard Moe Odum found himself on the bench for 9:10 of game action after committing his fourth foul of the game with 13:34 left to go.

When Odum returned, the Wildcats had only increased their lead from seven to nine, but his fourth foul sidelined him during a stretch where the Sun Devils needed to claw their way back into the game.

“I kind of feel like it was a baby foul,” Odum said. “When I play, when I get guarded, I get baby fouled all game, so I feel like it should be called both ways, but that was a bad one on me. I got to know.”

The misfortune and collapse in the second half were only amplified by how strong ASU’s first-half showing was in comparison.

U of A scored 28 points in the painted area, but the Sun Devils didn’t let them come easily. They blocked three shots, stole the ball three times and dove on the floor to get loose balls. They limited the Wildcats to just 42.4% shooting from the field, and didn’t allow a 3-pointer the entire half.

ASU itself shot only 41.7% from the field, but was always within striking distance of U of A due to its strong defense and nearly equalizing U of A in the rebound department, 14-13. The Sun Devils were even able to control the lead for 8:40 of the half.

That intensity wasn’t able to carry over during the next 20-minute set.

“They picked theirs up, we let ours down,” Odum said. “That’s just been the thing the whole season, ever since Maui … we just been playing good first half, playing like c— second half.

“I got to fix it. There’s no way to tell you what I’m going to do. It’s just, I don’t know how I’m going to fix it, but I’ve got to fix it.”

ASU’s loss played out nearly the same exact way as its first loss to the Wildcats, on the road in Tucson, played out.

The Sun Devils stuck with the nation’s best through the first 20 minutes in that one as well, even entering the halftime break with a slim 39-38 lead. The Sun Devils had held the Wildcats to under 45% from the field and a paltry 2-for-8 from beyond the arc, playing intimidating defense while doing just enough on offense (43% from the field and 4-for-11 from beyond the arc) to stay in the game.

Just like on Saturday, U of A turned it on in the second half, outscoring ASU 51-43. Koa Peat found his footing, scoring 16 points, leading his team to convert 18-of-27 second-half field goal attempts.

Different days, same stories, same results.

In a year where Territorial Cup events have, for the most part, not gone to plan, Sun Devil fans were hungry for an upset.

They cheered for their team for as long as they could, but not even the appearances of Sun Devil greats like Cam Skattebo, Jordyn Tyson and the greatest basketball player in program history, James Harden, could help ASU accomplish a task that proved to be too tall.

Even beyond just the 2025-26 season, the story has remained the same: Arizona’s basketball program has been too much to handle. A quick look at Hurley’s 4-19 record against the Tucson-based team reveals that much.

“We had our chances,” Hurley said. “We could not deal with their strength, their size, their ability to do things that physically, our roster could not.”