NOTABLES:
This was the 100th meeting between the Beavers and the Sun Devils, where Arizona State has now won each of the last 15 meetings in Tempe. The Sun Devils have won 12 of the last 15 overall in the series and are 24-7 over their last 31 games with the Beavers,
Four Sun Devils had 14 or more points tonight, the second time this has happened for the Sun Devils this season. Neal led the way with 21, Perez and Miller with 16 and Collins with 14.
Neal’s 21 points for the Sun Devils off the bench tonight matches his career high. Neal also had two blocks tonight and four rebounds.
Arizona State outrebounded Oregon State 31-28 this evening and is 4-0 when doing that in a game this season after also doing it in the game at Utah on Saturday
The Beavers didn’t turn the ball over in the first half, but the Sun Devil defense forced 14 turnovers in the second half.
Oregon State was held scoreless for 6:15 in the second half from 15:19-9:04 as Arizona State went on a 15-0 run for 5:44 in the second half from 14:48-9:04.
The Sun Devils had their highest shooting percentage of their season, connecting on 30-52 shots for 57.7%. This is the highest percentage since shooting 63.6% against Nevada in the 2023 NCAA tournament and the highest in a conference game since 2/9/2019 vs. Washington (61.7%)
The 18-point margin of victory is the most for the Sun Devils in a conference game since beating Cal 71-44 on March 3, 2022
Arizona State outscored 46-28 after the break, earning their largest second half margin of the season.
28 points is also the least points given up by the Sun Devils in a second half this season.
FIRST HALF
After a few possessions of solid defense, Arizona State struck first with a mid-range jumper from Jose Perez. Oregon State responded with a layup but missed two free throws on the following possession. Jamiya Neal stole a ball down low and brought it back across the court for a three-ball. Arizona State led 7-4 at the first media break.
Frankie Collins and Adam Miller both buried a three to bring the Sun Devils lead to nine early and cause a Beaver timeout. After a basket from the Beavers, Collins took a pass down the middle and finished with a clean finger roll at the basket to bring the score to 15-6.
After two layups from Oregon State, Neal finessed his way through two defenders for one of his own. Coordinated passing and movement around the basket earned ASU a 23-16 lead with 8:00 remaining in the first half.
Both teams traded multiple layups before the Beavers hit their first three of the game to bring the score within two, at 27-25. The Sun Devils lost the lead for the first time with under three minutes left, going down 30-27. Trailing was short-lived, as Collins and Neal both found the net and Adam Miller stole a pass for a breakaway dunk. The Beavers hit a three going into the half to leave the score tied 33-33.
SECOND HALF
With the teams entering the second half knotted, Miller answered first for the Sun Devils with a layup to make it 35-33. A three from Collins increased their lead up to five with 16:55 to go. A dunk by Neal put the Sun Devils up by six, 42-36, at the first media timeout.
After a basket by the Beavers, Selebangue had a dunk for his first basket of the contest to make it 46-38. Neal had a three, leading into a timeout by the Beavers, to put the Sun Devils ahead by 11. An Adam Miller jumper to put him at 11 points, and put ASU ahead 51-38.
A dunk by Phillips Jr. and the and-one put the Sun Devils up 57-38 as the Sun Devils were on a 13-0 run at this point. A jumper by Phillips Jr. added to the Sun Devils lead and their run, which led to an Oregon State timeout. The Beavers went on a 7-0 to bring themselves within 14, going into the under-eight timeout.
A flagrant foul was called on the Beavers coming out of the timeout and Perez made both free throws along with Collins scoring on a layup to put the Sun Devils up 18, 63-45. Oregon State had a three at the 6:44 mark to bring it within 15, but a free throw from Neal and a pair of free throws from Miller made it 68-50.
A trio of baskets from Neal put the Sun Devils up 21 with 2:30 left in the contest. Freshman Akil Watson had a three to make it 79-59 with 55 seconds left. The Sun Devils held on for the 79-61 victory.
Arizona State Head Coach Bobby Hurley:
Opening Statement
“I thought we had a really good half, played a really good second half. Just liked how we came out after they closed the gap and got it to even at the half. Defensively, I thought we were really good the first ten minutes. We were able to consistently get stops and played solid basketball on the offensive end. We had good balance on the offensive end. Our shooting numbers were strong again tonight, so I’m happy about that. The only negative really was (being) a little bit loose with the basketball. It’s kind of uncharacteristic of our team.We’re usually a very low turnover team. We had too many tonight, but outside of that, very happy with our performance.”
UP NEXT
Sun Devil Men’s Basketball will travel to Tucson for a matchup against in-state rival No. 5 Arizona on Saturday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcasted on FS1.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Connor Smith
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