Tempe, AZ – Arizona State went on a 19-0 run midway through the second half to top Oregon 78-64 before 12,751 fans at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. Oregon (2-3 in the Pac-12) came into the game after a gritty road win at Arizona. The Sun Devils (4-2) have been off and on recently while splitting six games after defeating then No. 1 Kansas.
Arizona State took a 56-54 lead midway in the second half after back-to-back three-pointers from Kimani Lawrence and Taeshon Cherry. That was sandwiched around an Oregon possession in which the Ducks missed three shots and came up with two offensive rebounds, The Sun Devils continued that run to a 15-point lead (69-54) to pull away from the Ducks. Oregon’s second half offense mainly consisted of the team standing around while a player went one-on-one and put up a jump shot with very few going in. Arizona State got the ball inside, primarily to Zylan Cheatham, who scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the half. Cheatham added a game-high nine rebounds.
Oregon lost their composure in the second half and appeared frustrated. They connected on only 9-of-35 (27 percent) of their shots with only 5-of-19 three-pointers made. Since there was little penetration they only shot two second half free throws. The Sun Devils shot an efficient 11-of-24 in the half and got to the foul line 13 times, making 12. Besides Cheatham, four Sun Devils scored in double figures including 15 points from Cherry on five three-pointers, 12 points and five assists from Luguentz Dort and 11 points and eight assists from point guard Remy Martin.
The first half was evenly played with Payton Pritchard connecting on a buzzer-beating three-pointer to tie the score at 39. The half had five tied scores and eight lead changes. With 1:32 remaining the Sun Devils’ Lawrence dunked in transition and was fouled by Ehab Amin. In addition to the 3-point play there was a technical foul called on Arizona State and an off-ball personal foul called on Oregon’s Miles Norris. All the foul shots were made and the Sun Devils took a 39-36 lead at that point. Paul White and Pritchard led Oregon with 12 first half points. White connected on all four of his shots from the field. White and Pritchard each made two three-pointers. Oregon’s Louis King and Victor Bailey Jr. both had a poor offensive half. King shot 1-of-6 and added three turnovers while Bailey Jr. went scoreless on six field goal attempts. Duck center Kenny Wooten committed two fouls in two minutes of play and sat out the remainder of the half.
Cherry led Arizona State with nine points, shooting 3-of-6 from deep. Oregon had a 17-12 rebounding edge and forced 11 Sun Devil turnovers while committing nine of their own.
Oregon had a 54-50 lead before things went south for them. White, who made all four of his shots in the first half, missed all six he took in the second half. Bailey Jr, finished shooting 0-of-9, King scored 16 points but shot an inefficient 6-of-18, committed four turnovers and appeared frustrated much of the night. Wooten ended up playing 14 minutes without taking a shot, pulled down six rebounds and left the court without shaking the Sun Devils’ hands. Pritchard led Oregon in scoring with 20 points, making 4-of-9 3s to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three turnovers.
Oregon will head home next week and try to get back on track against the Washington schools while Arizona State travels to Los Angeles to face USC and UCLA.
This article was written by Carl Berman, Managing Partner of NetScouts Basketball. You can follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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