(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)
Over the last three seasons, Arizona State and No. 12 Arizona have given fans exciting and competitve contests regardless if the game has taken place in Tempe or Tucson.
That was not the case in Arizona’s 99-61 shellacking of ASU in the McKale Center.
From the get-go, the Wildcats jumped to a 17-7 lead, abusing ASU around the rim and generally getting whatever they wanted inside the paint.
ASU responded with a 10-0 run to bring the score to 20-19 with 7:29 to go in the first frame, but Arizona punched right back with a 15-2 run to end the half. In the first half, Arizona scored 18 more points in the paint than ASU, tallied a 9-2 advantage in second-chance points as well as a 9-0 advantage in fastbreak points.
Arizona freshman guard Allonzo Trier led the team with 11 points and six rebounds in the first half.
The Wildcats stepped on ASU’s proverbial neck in the second half, opening on a 10-2 run. ASU forwards Willie Atwood and Savon Goodman committed their fourth fouls before the first media timeout.
The Wildcats hit 11 of their first 14 shots in the second half to blow the game wide open and held a 70-42 advantage with 10:08 remaining. The Sun Devils never got within striking distance for the remainder of the game and looked outmatched for the majority of the night.
For debatably the first time during Pac-12 play, ASU seemed to never really have a sniff of a chance at taking the lead. The Wildcats led for 38:18 minutes during the game and its largest lead was 41 points.
Player of the game: Allonzo Trier
The Seattle-native and Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nevada) product had his way with ASU’s defense. He dropped 20 points on the Sun Devils for the second time this season and tacked on eight rebounds.
He also had a hand in keeping ASU sophomore guards Kodi Justice and Tra Holder to 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
Stat of the night: 27 seconds
Arizona held the lead for all but 27 seconds. ASU lead for just 14 seconds of the entire game.
The Wildcats also outrebounded the Sun Devils by 24, scored 38 more points in the paint and blocked eight of ASU’s shots.
That is complete and utter domination.
Biggest concern: Everything
Atwood and senior center Eric Jacobsen were anything but healthy in this one. Atwood’s wrist is still bothering him from a hard fall against USC, and Jacobsen looked like he tweaked an ankle. On top of that, Holder had another poor shooting night. After shooting just 2-of-11 against UCLA, Holder was held to 3-of-11 from the field in Tucson.
Unsung hero: Ryan Anderson
Arizona redshirt senior Ryan Anderson was once again effective and efficient, scoring 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He also grabbed eight rebounds.
What’s next?
The Sun Devils get the stew over this loss for over a week before they travel to Salt Lake City to take on Utah on February 25.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
