(Las Vegas, NV) The Arizona State men’s basketball team fell in the semifinals of the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Tournament, 78-59 against the No. 8 Arizona Wildcats.
Playing its third game in three days, Arizona State (22-11,11-9) remained in the game with Arizona (26-6, 14-6) until a late spurt. ASU would trim the lead to as little as four with just over seven minutes remaining, but the Wildcats used the fresher legs to their advantage down the stretch.
With its three best wins of Creighton, Michigan and Arizona, along with seven-true road wins and a 5-1 record on neutral floors, ASU takes its 22 wins in the Pac-12 to Selection Sunday. The Sun Devils can present a nationally-elite away from home resume with three of the best wins of any bubble team.
NOTABLES
ASU forced 15 Wildcat turnovers in Friday night’s contest. In fact, ASU only committed nine turnovers, its fewest since Feb. 18 vs. Utah.
Arizona State has had 26 consecutive conference games forcing double-digit turnovers, the most in the Pac-12. In fact, it’s the 32nd time in the last 34 games forcing double-digit turnovers, and 59 of 65 dating back to the start of last season.
The Sun Devils remain one of only four teams in the Power 5, Big East and Mountain West to have forced double digit turnovers in each conference game this season.
Arizona State has five quadrant one wins and nine combined wins in quads one and two.
The setback was ASU’s first on a neutral court this season, bringing the Sun Devils to 5-1 in that setting. ASU has 12 wins away from home, among the nationally elite.
ASU has 12 wins away from home. Of AP Top 25 teams, only No. 1 Houston and No. 5 Purdue have more.
It’s tied with No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Alabama and more than No. 6 Marquette.
Cambridge Jr. was held to eight points. He still has 23 times in 34 games this season that he has scored in double figures.
He extended his Pac-12-leading 29th straight game with a made three-pointer. He is just the fourth Sun Devil in the last 20 seasons to record one or more three-pointers made in at least 25 consecutive games. He has tied Johnathan Gilling for the longest Sun Devil streak of made-three pointers in that span.
Jamiya Neal played key minutes in a Sun Devil guard rotation that was playing its third game in three days, tying for the ASU lead in points with 11.
In a pivotal part of the season down the stretch, DJ Horne has turned up his scoring. He is averaging 14.5 points per game over his last 11 contests with all but two outputs in double digits. He had six of his nine points in a flurry midway through the second half.
Cambridge Hr. had five steals, pacing the team for the third straight contest. It was his 10th time leading the team in steals, a team-best.
KEY MOMENTS
After Arizona State opened the game with a three pointer, the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run over 2:12.
Tied at 18, U of A rattled off a 13-3 scoring average over 4:42 from 10:46-5:54 in the opening stanza, going up 31-21.
Arizona was held without a point over the final 2:21 of the first half, going 1-7 from the floor and allowing ASU to move two points closer.
In the second half of its third game in three days, the Sun Devils ran out of gas. They got the contest to within four at 56-52, but Arizona outscored the Sun Devils 23-7 in the final seven minutes of the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Desmond Cambridge Jr. picked up right where he left off against Arizona, nailing a triple from the right corner on an assist from Frankie Collins that opened scoring.
Arizona rattled off an 8-0 run before Washington snapped the Sun Devil coldspell on a layup. Oumar Ballo immediately responded with a slam, 10-5 Wildcats at 16:19.
Jamiya Neal gave Arizona State its first lead at 13:22 after firing a triple from Luther Muhammad, 13-12. Arizona immediately responded with an and-one, 15-13 Wildcats.
Neal felt obliged to keep the three point barrage going, banging a trey at 12:07 from Brennan and ASU took the lead back, 16-15. Kylan Boswell responded with a three pointer out of the under-12 media break.
Devan Cambridge used a tough finish at the rim over U of A to knot the contest at 18 with 10:46 left in the half. The Wildcats rattled off five straight points by capitalizing on a couple ASU miscues, forcing a Sun Devil timeout.
Neal continued to score, swooping to the rim for a layup and cutting it to a 33-26 Wildcat lead. He countered U of A free throws with a pull-up jumper from the right wing, 35-28 at 1:19. That was the score heading into the half.
Cambridge Jr. opened scoring again in the second stanza with a shot from the left side. A Sun Devil steal gave way to a Collins layup as the U of A faithful continued to make their way back from halftime, 35-32 at 19:21.
Trailing by nine, Horne found his way into the scorebook on a jumper from the left wing at 15:48. The Sun Devils forced a turnover and Horne used a screen to knock down another shot, this time from the right side, and it was 45-40 Wildcats at 15:14.
The Sun Devils continued to battle. Down seven, Cambridge grabbed an offensive rebound and hit one foul shot, making it 56-50 with 7:54 left. A Wildcat miss allowed Collins to find Cambridge and cut it to four.
The Wildcats then found a gear that the Sun Devils could not keep up and Arizona raced to a 78-59 final victory.
UP NEXT
Sun Devil Men’s Basketball will await Selection Sunday to see if they will compete in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Josh Schwam, Graduate Media Relations Intern
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