Despite the loss, Arizona State is still off to a historic start, sitting 15-4 and 6-2 in Pac-12 play.
The Sun Devils got key contributions from Austin Nunez as the true freshman had 10 points off the bench. The Sun Devils were paced offensively by Desmond Cambridge Jr.(15) and DJ Horne (14).
KEY MOMENTS:
Desmond Cambridge Jr. drilled a half court heave at the buzzer, putting ASU up five heading into the half, the largest lead of the game for either team.
UCLA started the second half on an 8-0 run in 1:07 and forced a Sun Devil timeout, taking a 38-35 lead.
ASU responded with a 10-2 scoring stretch in 3:20 to put them up six, 48-42 with 14:09 remaining.
UCLA went on a 7-2 scoring stretch over 2:38 from 10:12 to 7:34, taking the contest into the under-eight media timeout tied at 57.
The Bruins initiated their separation for good on 7-0 run over 2:13 from 6:13-4:00, going ahead 65-60.
UCLA extended their lead late, going on a 9-0 run in the final 3:36.
NOTABLES
ASU has 15 wins in its first 19 games. It is the first time ASU is 15-4 since the 2017-18 season.
It is tied for the best 19 game start under Head Coach Bobby Hurley (2017-18).
The Sun Devils are 6-2 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 1993-94 season and just the fourth time in the Pac-10/12 era.
Arizona State has now won 11 of its last 13 games at Desert Financial Arena. It is the best 13-game mark since ASU won 14 straight, meshed between the last eight home games of the 2013-14 season and the first six of the 2014-15 season.
The 13,363 fans in attendance marked the highest total since last season’s Arizona game, where 13,233 fans packed Desert Financial Arena.
The 942 Crew also brought their best. A record of more than 5,500 students trounced the previous best of just under 4,000.
ASU still has three quad one wins, good for third in the Pac-12.
This is the 16th time in the last 18 games ASU has forced double-digit turnovers, and 43 of 49 dating back to the start of last season.
In fact, the Sun Devils forced UCLA to their third most turnovers of the season (13) and most in a first half (10).
Arizona State has outscored their opponent in the paint 16 times in 19 games this season and were an even, 20-20 against the Bruins.
In fact, the Sun Devils are 7-0-1 in the paint in league play. ASU is outscoring opponents by 45 points in the paint in league play.
ASU has scored 41.4% of their points this season from inside the paint (572/1,381).
ASU has also scored more fast-break points than opponents in 13 out of 19 games, and nine of the last 10. The Sun Devils are outscoring opponents by a +59 margin on the fast break this season. They outscored UCLA 10-9.
In fact, the Sun Devils have outscored their league opponents on the run in seven of eight possible games (except Washington).
Even though ASU had 12 assists, Arizona State has had at least 20 assists five times this season. It is the most such instances since the Sun Devils, led by James Harden, had six in the 2008-09 season.
The Sun Devils scored 62 points. On UCLA’s current 14-game winning streak, they have held opponents to 57.1 ppg.
Over their 13 game winning streak, opponents have averaged 57 points per contest against the UCLA defense.
With seven rebounds tonight against Adem Bona’s 3, Warren Washington has now grabbed more rebounds than the opposing team’s center in two consecutive games.
DJ Horne’s 14 points marked 11 games in double figures this season.
In fact, the 14 were his most in a conference game this season.
Austin Nunez had 10 points, a career high mark in league play and the fourth time in his young career that he has had at least 10 points.
The Sun Devil defense held Tyler Campbell to season lows in three-point field goals made and assists (1).
FIRST HALF
UCLA got on the board first to open the contest with a layup, but Desmond Cambridge Jr.countered with a contested triple from the top of the key, ASU’s first shot and make with 18:46 to play on a find by DJ Horne.
Trailing 5-3, Devan Cambridge erased a Bruin shot attempt with 16:48 on the clock.A turnover by UCLA gave way to a DJ Horne midrange jumper from Austin Nunez at 16:24, tying the contest at five. Washington continued ASU’s dominating rim protection with an aggressive swat at 15:49 and forced a shot clock violation into the media timeout, all knotted at five.
UCLA went 4:11 from 17:59-13:48 without a basket before a midrange from Tyger Campbell gave them the lead, 7-5.
Horne countered with a trey, giving him five of ASU’s eight points and the Sun Devils an 8-7 edge, their first of the game.Horne found Washington soaring to the rim with 8:22 left for an alley-oop slam and the Sun Devils trailed by just one, 11-10.
Fresh into the contest, Enoch Boakye, gave ASU the lead back, 12-11 on a layup from Frankie Collins with 7:22 to play.
On the ensuing possession, Horne swiped the basketball, grabbed an offensive rebound and Frankie Collins drilled a three pointer at 6:39 to bring ASU’s lead to four, 15-11.
UCLA tied the game at 15 on a jumper and two free throws before Austin Nunez nailed his first basket at 5:29, a triple from the right wing. It was ASU’s fourth make in the last five shots.
After Bruin two free throws, Desmond Cambridge hauled a half court heave, earning ASU its largest lead of the game at 35-30 into the half.
SECOND HALF
UCLA started the stanza on an 8-0 run over 1:07, prompting a Sun Devil timeout as the Bruins led 38-35 with 18:53 left in regulation.
Devan Cambridge notched the first Sun Devil basket with 18:20 to play on an inbound find from Collins.
Warren Washington violently rejected Bona at the rim and Desmond Cambridge Jr. swooped to the rim for an easy layup.
Desmond Cambridge Jr. drained a jumper from the right side and following a steal, slammed home a reverse dunk to the delight of the Sun Devil faithful at 15:00, capping an 8-2 scoring stretch for the Sun Devils. ASU led 45-40.
Then, at 14:09, Desmond Cambridge Jr. drilled his third triple of the game, giving ASU a 48-44 advantage. It marked a run of seven straight ASU points for Cambridge Jr..
Washington found Devan Cambridge for a violent slam with 12:31 to play. Then, Nunez drilled a left-corner trey, bringing him up to six points and the ASU lead to a game-high six, 53-47, with 11:09 on the clock.
The true freshman continued to show incredible grit, dicing his way to the rim for a bucket with 9:52 to play, putting ASU back ahead 55-50.
Collins earned the shooter’s touch on a hesitation pull-up three, putting ASU back in front after a brief UCLA edge, 60-58 with 6:32 to play.
The Sun Devils snapped a 7-0 UCLA run on a Washington slam from Devan Cambridge, cutting their deficit to three, 65-62 with 3:36 to play. The Bruins held on for a 74-62 victory.
QUOTEABLES
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement…
“I’d like to first of all, to thank our students and our fans for coming out. I got chills coming out for that game and seeing what the crowd looked like and the energy. But we didn’t take care of the ball early in the game and thought we had that under control as the game went on but unfortunately their points off turnovers were hard for us to overcome. It felt like the difference in the game and they’re a really good team. Credit to UCLA and what Mick Cronin has done there and those guys aren’t fazed by anything. Just the runs we made, like we were in pretty good shape, they generally had an answer and we didn’t get enough stops. We allowed them to shoot 50 percent from the field in the game and we did a pretty good job, I think they were 37 at halftime. Just the second half we couldn’t get stops, their key players really made a lot of plays out there.”
On Austin Nunez’s minutes off the bench…
“In these big games, he’s proven that he belongs and that certainly he is capable of making plays and we struggled to score and he’s very efficient and makes some big shots. His defense on Campbell I thought was better than anybody’s defense on him throughout the game. He fought like heck against the ball screens and got back in front of him quite a bit, moved his feet great, so he played both ends very well.”
Arizona State Junior Guard D.J Horne
On watching Nunez grow as a guard this season…
“Seeing him come in like a little baby, first day on campus and seeing how much he’s grown. He’s definitely surprising me. I know he had some game to him from watching him in high school but the jump from high school to college is a big jump so to see how far he’s come up to this point, I think is crazy. He’s only going to keep getting better.”
On going into the locker room up five after the half court…
“I think the energy was good, that was a big momentum play for us going into the half. For me it kind of backfired and brought back flashbacks in a negative way that I don’t want to talk about. I’m glad that I was on the right side of things this time.”
Arizona State Freshman Guard Austin Nunez
On taking on Tyger Campbell…
“I wanted to take on the challenge, just because he’s an older player who’s been playing at a high level and been to Final Fours. He’s been to positions that I want to be. I took the challenge face on, wanted to guard him 94 feet and he hit tough shots the whole game. I wasn’t going to back down from it. It was a tough loss. Like DJ said, there’s plays that we could have made offensively that could have helped us down the stretch to make the game close or a better outcome.”
On the atmosphere of the arena…
“For me being a freshman, I came to a couple games last year and it was not like this at all. The atmosphere was crazy, I mean, it was loud in here. It was super loud in here. Everybody was jumping before tip-off started. Student section was rocking. It was great to see everyone come out.”
UP NEXT
The Sun Devils will look to split the weekend set with USC Saturday at 8 p.m. Dave Pasch and Bill Walton will be on the call on ESPNU.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics
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