Washington Scores 18 as Sun Devils Beat Cougars 77-71

 Washington’s 18 were his best in Maroon and Gold and just three shy of his career high. He was joined by Desmond Cambridge Jr. (13) and DJ Horne (12) in double figures. Additionally, ASU shot 55.4%, its seventh best shooting percentage in a league game under Head Coach Bobby Hurley.

Arizona State has now won 11 of its last 12 games at Desert Financial Arena, a mark not seen in eight years.

KEY MOMENTS

• Desmond Cambridge Jr. scored seven of the first nine Sun Devil points and made his first three shots from the floor.
• A 6-0 ASU run in :56 seconds prompted a Washington State timeout with 5:49 to go in the first half.
• From 16:41-11:14 in the second half, Arizona State went on a 13-6 scoring stretch over 5:26 to re-extend their lead to double digits, 60-49 into the under-12 media timeout.
• Washington State went on an 8-0 run over 1:19 from 5:34-4:15, cutting the lead to three, 69-66.
• ASU went on a 6-0 run over 2:46 from 4:18-1:32, going ahead 75-66 late in the second half.

NOTABLES

• ASU’s 12-3 start is the best 15-game start since the 2017-18 season.
• Arizona State has now won 11 of its last 12 games at Desert Financial Arena. It is the best 12-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.
• Arizona State shot 55.4% from the floor. It is the seventh best shooting percentage under Bobby Hurley in Pac-12 play.
• Warren Washington notched a Sun Devil career high with 18 points, his sixth time in double digit scoring on the year. He made his first eight shots and finished 9-10 from the floor.
• He entered the night third in the Pac-12 with a 63.2% field goal percentage.
• Washington also led the Sun Devils with four assists on the night, his first time pacing ASU’s assist effort.
• ASU 6-1 in games separated by six or less this season. They are 30-14 in such games over the last four seasons, the most wins in D1 over that stretch
• Through 15 games this season, opposing guards are shooting 38% against ASU in conference play and 34% for the season against the Sun Devil defense.
• Guards are averaging 9.5 turnovers per game against the Sun Devils in conference play.
• Arizona State has outscored their opponent in the paint 13 times in 15 games this season, including a 36-26 margin against the Cougars.
• In fact, ASU has scored 42% of their points this season from inside the paint (450/1,082).
• ASU has also scored more fast-break points than opponents in 11 out of 15 games, and the last seven. The Sun Devils are outscoring opponents by a +41 margin on the fast break this season.
• The Sun Devils are 8-0 against teams coming off a win this season. Washington State downed USC at home in its last contest.
• ASU’s four league games have been separated by an average of five points.
• Warren Washington is 7-1 in the opening tip at Desert Financial Arena this season. He has won the tip off in all Sun Devil wins.
• ASU came into the contest second in the Pac-12 average 12.3 turnovers per game and were below that against Washington State, allowing 10 turnovers.
• ASU is +16 in steals in conference games this season including the lead in all four games.
• Desmond Cambridge Jr. is +37 in four league play games this season after a +2 tally against Washington State.
• Arizona State has won five of the six meetings against Washington State and leads the series 47-41 including a 29-16 edge in the desert.
• In fact, Arizona State shot 59.4% from the floor in the first half and scored 42 points. Both were conference-play bests.
• Arizona State is 8-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
• Luther Muhammad scored nine points in nine minutes.
• DJ Horne’s 12 marked his ninth time this season in double figures this season.
• Desmond Cambridge Jr. scored 13 points, marking his seventh time in double figures this season.
• The Sun Devils are 3-1 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.

FIRST HALF
Desmond Cambridge Jr. got Arizona State (12-3, 3-1) started on a pump-fake find from Frankie Collins with 19:46 on the clock.

Cambridge Jr. followed a Washington State (6-10, 1-4) bucket with the first triple of the night as ASU led 5-2. The Cougars countered, but Warren Washington went to work on the left block for his first basket and the Sun Devils led 7-4 with 18:26 left in the first half. Both teams combined to open 5-5 from the floor.

Cambridge Jr. knocked in his third basket on a jumper with 16:50 on the clock. He scored seven of the first nine Sun Devil points and started 3-3 from the floor.

Washington went on a personal 4-0 run, including a find from Austin Nunez, in :14 seconds from 15:32-15:18. ASU had made three straight baskets.

Offenses went stagnant on both sides into the under-12 timeout, with both sides individually on field goal droughts over 2:30.

Luther Muhammad snapped the cold-spell for ASU, cashing in a jumper at 10:40 to extend the lead to eight, 21-13.

Washington State went 4:20 without a basket from 14:24-10:04 before a trey cut their deficit to five. The Cougars capitalized on a Sun Devil miss on the other end for a 4-0 run, cutting the ASU edge to three.

Jamiya Neal notched his first points of the night on a fast break three, bringing the lead back to six with 8:19 to play.

Collins hounded the inbound and forced a 10-second call. Desmond Cambridge Jr.proceeded to dish his first dime of the night on an alley-oop to Warren Washington with 7:57 to play.

Arizona State was on a 6-0 run over :56 seconds with 5:49 to play and forced a Washington State timeout.

Two Washington State threes sandwiched around another Horne jumper brought the lead back down to seven 34-27 with 5:11 on the clock. Washington countered with a soft hook shot from the top of the restricted area at 4:34, ASU’s fifth consecutive make.

The Cougars would not go quietly. Out of their use-it-or-lose-it timeout, the Cougars went on a 5-0 run in five seconds aided by an ASU turnover, making the score 38-36 with 2:20 to play.

Horne dropped in two baskets in the final minute of the opening half including with :02 left. Arizona State led 42-36 into the break.

SECOND HALF
Collins nailed the first ASU field goal of the second half, a lefty floater at 17:54 to extend the ASU lead to nine, 47-38.

After a Cougar basket, Washington found Collins for a nifty reverse layup at 16:25.

Devan Cambridge hit his first three of the game with 13:26 on the clock as ASU brought their lead back to nine. On the ensuing possession, Neal found Duke Brennan in the paint for the big man’s first points of the night. ASU was back up by double digits, 56-45 at 12:41.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. found his way into double figures with a triple at 6:21 off glass, extending ASU’s lead to 69-58. The Cougars went on an 8-0 run featuring two treys to cut ASU’s advantage to three with 4:15 left.

Some brotherly love woke up the Desert Financial Arena faithful, as Desmond Cambridge Jr.tossed up an alley-oop slam to Devan with 2:42 left in regulation. WSU was forced into an airball and Horne followed by racing to the middle of the floor and draining a floater with 2:04 left, forcing a Cougar timeout with ASU leading by seven, 73-66.

Horne proceeded to force a steal and the Sun Devils delivered the dagger on a divine find by Horne to Washington for a slam. ASU led 75-66 with 1:32 to go. Arizona State went on to claim a 77-71 victory.

QUOTEABLES
Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley
Opening Statement:
“It’s good to get back on track with a win. It’s probably as good as we’ve played offensively and iI think it could have been a little better. I thought we had really good looks throughout the course of the game. I thought we moved the ball well. I liked our assist total, you know, 18 assists on 31 made field goals. We got some good work done in the paint again. Lot of good stuff on the offensive end. It’s good, again, to get back to the feeling of winning a basketball game after having two tough losses so hopefully we’ll continue to gain confidence. I think it’s a quality win. I don’t really look at their record, because they’re not the same team they were early in the year when they had injuries and a variety of things they had to go through. They’re a good basketball team and Kyle does a really good job. They run a good offense, they can really shoot and they have a good inside player and they’ve played really good competition very well in the last couple weeks. I feel good about the win and just move on from here.”

On figuring out their zone…
“I think we had really good success against their zone, when we hit the high post. We were able to go high-low a few times or just make a comfortable jump shot.  Alonzo Gaffney had one at the foul line in the first half. That was probably the adjustment that we needed to make, just focus on getting the ball.  We were kind of dribbling around a bunch and too stationary, too stagnant on the perimeter. The high post was a good spot for us in the zone.”

On DJ Horne’s performance…
“The floater in the paint was a huge shot. We trust him, and over the course of the season and body of work you may never watch him play in a game again where he gets back to back open threes in the first half like he did and not connect. I’m not worried about him making shots. He didn’t allow it to affect how he played defense and his effort so I’m happy about that.”

Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Luther Muhammad
On team depth…
“We’re a deep team,so I don’t think that’s the first time that that’s happened this year and I believe it’ll probably happen again. Everyone gotta come in and play hard and contribute when their number is called.”

Arizona State Men’s Basketball Forward Warren Washington
On his performance tonight…
“I feel really good, I don’t want to get too high or too low. Just want to stay level,and continue to work hard and try to get win after win after win.”

On early involvement and that being on purpose…
“It’s been a learning curve here, because they haven’t had a big like me here. I feel like this was a step in the right direction for sure. Credit to my teammates and my coaches because they’ve given me a lot of chances today. In practice, we do a really good job of getting inside and out, I feel like it was just translating to the game. Like I said, credit to my teammates and coaches for trusting me.”

UP NEXT
Arizona State continues Pac-12 play against the Washington Huskies. Tip is set for 3:00 MST Saturday, January 8.