(Photo Credit: Steve Rodriguez/Sun Devil Athletics)
It didn’t come as a surprise, but Arizona State (13-5, 2-3) fans perhaps weren’t expecting the Sun Devils to be quite so overmatched as they fell to the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (18-0, 5-0) 91-68 Thursday night at the McKale Center in Tucson.
Jermaine Marshall was ruled out earlier in the day due to a groin injury, so Brandan Kearney received his first start in his Division I basketball career. The Sun Devils only had a few minutes of hope late in the first half. ASU made an 11-4 run over the last four and half minutes of the period to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 42-28 headed into halftime.
Herb Sendek gave 10 players time in the first half, as the Sun Devils started two of 14 from the field and had three shots blocked early. Jahii Carson also began the night missing his first five shots. Meanwhile, the Wildcats enjoyed a 23-5 run over a nine-minute span. Eric Jacobsen sank a put-back layup about five minutes into the game, and the maroon and gold didn’t put another mark in the made field goal column until almost eight minutes later when Jahii Carson hit a jumper.
ASU switched back and forth between zone and man trying to adapt to the absence of Jermaine Marshall, while protecting Jordan Bachynski who was in foul trouble all night. The Wildcats jumped all over the Sun Devils in the second half going on a 10-2 run in the first four minutes to bring their lead to 52-30 and eliminate any chance ASU might have had to win the game.
The Sun Devils tied a season low only taking 14 shots from behind the arc. Jahii Carson led all scorers with 20 points and five assists after his slow start. Bo Barnes contributed a career high 13 points of his own in the loss. As a team, ASU shot 34 percent from the field and knocked down 11 of 16 from the charity stripe.
Seven Wildcats reached double-figure points, led by Nick Johnson with 17. Depth clearly played a factor for ASU. Jonathan Gilling was no match for Aaron Gordon while Kearney struggled mightily with T.J. McConnell who had 10 points and six assists. The maroon and gold also lost out on the glass 39-30.
Arizona’s stifling defense also played a large role forcing 18 Sun Devil turnovers. The loss also means that Arizona earned half a point in the annual Territorial Cup race which now stands tied at two and a half points a piece for each school. ASU gets its chance at redemption on Feb. 14 in Tempe.
Arizona State has a week off before returning to Wells Fargo Arena to face Utah on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.
You can reach this reporter via email nkruege1@asu.edu or on twitter @NickPKrueger
