Midway through the first half of Arizona’s demolition of visiting Arizona State on Wednesday at McKale Center, it was almost as if the Wildcats started to feel sorry for their Grand Canyon State brethren.
It was like an old Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon, where the Roadrunner sprinted past his enemy, only to circle back to see if he was OK.
Call it sympathy, call it empathy or simply call it pumping the brakes, but Arizona let the Sun Devils crawl back into the thing on Wednesday, only to once more leave them in the dust.
After a momentary lapse in perimeter concentration, the Wildcats closed the game on an 80-41 run in a 99-61 win over Arizona State.
“Our defense was in place tonight,” Sean Miller said. “We defended them as well as we can. Last time we played them in January, they almost had 90. Tonight they had 61.”
The first eight minutes of the game was almost reminiscent of the last few seasons for the Wildcats, when Arizona put a padlock on opponents and just about threw away the key. The Wildcats were active and aggressive, playing east-west better than they have for much of the year.
Arizona State didn’t even score for the first four-plus minutes, and managed just four points in the first 7:50. ASU made 2 of 10 shots to start the game, Arizona hit 7 of 14, and it looked like the rout was on.
“It’s about keeping the bar high,” Miller said. “It’s not always fun, it’s not always easy, it’s not like everything goes right for us. I noticed we have been getting better, not necessarily by leaps and bounds, but it showed in this game.”
What, then, can explain the brief Sun Devil renaissance midway through the first half?
Arizona State caught fire — or, as much fire as it could catch — right after a Louder! Louder! graphic flashed on the McKale video board. Perhaps it caught Arizona’s eye, as the Wildcats started having trouble with their defensive rotations around the 8-minute mark of the first half.
Willie Atwood’s 3-pointer at the 12:10 mark keyed a run, and Arizona State hit eight of its next 11 shots, ultimately seizing a brief 20-19 lead.
“We just checked out a little bit,” Allonzo Trier said. “At the same time, Arizona State is a very talented team as well. In the game of basketball, it’s about how you react. We did a great job of taking a punch but holding solid. It showed that we were able to handle ourselves and not crack.”
Then the Wildcats reappeared, in a big way.
After Gerry Blakes’ 3-pointer at the 7:43 mark gave the Sun Devils their first and only lead, Arizona held ASU to one field goal in its next 15 shots, part of a 4-for-23 run. The Wildcats, meanwhile, cut loose, hitting 28 of 42 shots to close the game.
“They’re definitely fun games, especially when they’re against Arizona State,” Kaleb Tarczewski said. “It was a good game from all of us.”
Added Miller: “You have to be good at both — you can’t just be good on offense, you can’t just be good at defense. You have to be good at both, and the things that allow you to get better, you have to keep your eye on those things. From a defensive perspective, it’s just about staying with what we do.”
