Pac 10 Fans Home
Pac 10 Football
Pac 10 Basketball
Pac 10 Baseball
College Fansites
Pac 10 Apparel
Pac 10 Tickets

Arizona vs Arizona State Basketball Recap

The Arizona Wildcats halted a pair of Arizona State winning streaks Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.

In dashing to a 77-58 victory over the host Sun Devils, the U of A broke a string of five consecutive losses against rival ASU. The Wildcats also ended Arizona State’s four-game Pac-10 winning streak and drew even with the Sun Devils at 4-3 in the conference.

The victory was the Wildcats’ second straight by double digits on the road following their last-second, 67-64 loss at Oregon State on Jan. 14. Arizona followed up its 74-60 win at Oregon on Jan. 16 with Saturday night’s statement-making triumph in Tempe.

The Wildcats and Sun Devils are now part of a five-way deadlock for second place in the Pac-10. California leads the conference at 5-2, while Stanford, UCLA and USC are tied with the U of A and ASU at 4-3.

Arizona (10-9 overall) took control of Saturday’s game with a 13-0 run early in the second half that reversed a 29-25 deficit into a 38-29 lead.

The Wildcats, who outscored ASU 52-31 in the second half, closed the game on a 67-38 run after falling behind 20-10 early.

The Wildcats shot 51 percent from the field (23 of 45, including 7 of 18 from three-point range) against Arizona State’s conference-leading and nationwide-best defense that had been allowing an average of 54.68 points per game. Arizona also made its first 17 free throws and converted 24 of 28 foul shots on the night.

Arizona sophomore guard Kyle Fogg led all scorers with 21 points, while freshman forward/center Derrick Williams finished with 20. Senior point guard Nic Wise (16 points) and junior forward Jamelle Horne (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Wildcats.

Arizona State (14-6 overall) was led by junior forward Rihards Kuksiks, who finished with 15 points, and junior guard Ty Abbott, who added 10.

The Sun Devils shot just 30 percent from the field, making 16 of 53 attempts, including 9 of 29 from three-point range. ASU converted 17 of 29 free throws.

Arizona State built an early 20-10 lead on the strength of an 11-2 run that featured a pair of three-pointers by Kuksiks and a triple by freshman guard Demetrius Walker.

Arizona answered by scoring nine consecutive points that included 6 of 6 made free throws. The Wildcats, who swished all 13 of their first-half foul shots, caught the Sun Devils at 23-23 and went ahead 25-24 when Fogg made four straight free throws.

> Browse the selection of Pac 10 apparel & merchandise online as well as Pac 10 tickets through Pac 10 Fans and partner sites.

Arizona State, which was held without a field goal over the final 7:54 of the first half, led 27-25 at the intermission.

After Kuksiks began the second half with a drive to the basket to increase ASU’s advantage to four, the Wildcats scored 13 consecutive points to pull ahead 38-29.

Fogg began the U of A surge by driving the center of the lane for a layup. Williams followed with an emphatic two-handed slam to tie the score at 29-29, and he swished a turnaround 10-footer to put the Wildcats ahead 31-29.

Horne knocked down a long three-pointer from beyond the top of the key to make it 34-29. Freshman wing Kevin Parrom then drove the baseline for a reverse layup, and Williams followed with a fast-break drive to put the Wildcats ahead by nine.

Horne hit a three-pointer from the right wing to increase Arizona’s advantage to 52-39 with 7:44 remaining. A fast-break layup by Fogg off an ASU turnover put the Wildcats ahead by 15 with 7:22 left. It was more of the same on Arizona State’s next possession, as the Sun Devils again turned the ball over and Arizona scored on a layup by Williams to make it 56-39.

The Wildcats went ahead 67-47 on Horne’s triple from the left corner with 3:38 remaining.

By Tom Kessler
DFN Sports Staff Writer