Arizona State freshman guard Luguentz Dort (0) watches his missed dunk rebound to Arizonaβs Ira Lee at Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday. The 95-88 victory was the Sun Devilsβ first over UA since 2015.
Arizona Stateβs Zylan Cheatham, left, does his best to keep UAβs Justin Coleman out of the lane. Cheatham, born and raised in Phoenix, said the win Thursday βmeans a lot to me.β He grabbed 22 rebounds and scored 11 points.
Tempe βΒ Arizonaβs longest winning streak against Arizona State wasnβt by Lute Olson or anyone you remember, but rather a 17-0 burst after World War II that reached an end not with a struggle but with a surrender.
The day after losing 87-59 to the Sun Devils in February 1952, Arizona athletic director Pop McKale wrote in the schoolβs alumni bulletin with startling transparency:
βOur basketball reputation fell with a dull thud,β he said. βNext yearβs prospects will be about the same. We have probably run out of top-flight prospects for a few years.β
Pop scooped everybody: Arizona proceeded to stumble through its worst 20-year stretch in history, including an 0-15 record against the Sun Devils.
Arizona had another winning streak over ASU broken Thursday night, losing in overtime 95-88. But it was not a dull thud, nor was it followed by a declaration of hopelessness.
If there is any hope in losing β even against a fairly good to pretty good Sun Devils team β Arizona walked away Thursday with its dignity intact. That wasnβt the case a week ago on a journey to nowhere at UCLA and USC.
The nationβs No. 1 recruiting class is expected to be in uniform the next time Arizona plays at Wells Fargo Arena, and, for Arizona, maybe that helps Thursdayβs streak-snapper go down a bit better.
ASU ended overtime playing to the fans, soaking in the revelry of a capacity crowd, many who have been tired of losing to Arizona for the last 35 years.
On the initial box score distributed to the media, the Sun Devils listed attendance at 17,731. Thatβs about 3,000 over capacity, and to the credit of the long-disappointed Wells Fargo Arena crowd, it sounded like 17,731 much of the night.
It was telling that there was no sign (or sound) of UA fans in the building. Thatβs a first, going back to the mid-1980s.
βOur fan base is excited, our players are very excited, our students were unbelievable and the crowd was ridiculously great,β said ASU coach Bobby Hurley. βEveryone left happy.β
Even in a rare down season, Arizona got ASUβs best shot. And at a time you least expected it, the Sun Devils also got Arizonaβs best shot, especially in the sense that the Wildcats are two or three bodies short of a full load.
The Pac-12 doesnβt give Coach of the Week awards, but if it did Sean Miller would surely be this weekβs honoree. Whatever he did after the confidence-shattering weekend in Los Angeles β without yet another injured player, Brandon Williams β was worthy of recognition.
If it had been 95-68 Thursday instead of 95-88, few wouldβve raised an eyebrow.
Sun Devils sophomore Remy Martin scored a career-high 31 points, and senior forward Zylan Cheatham grabbed an insane total of 22 rebounds. Those figures made the difference, and donβt think Martin and Cheatham werenβt inspired.
Martin confirmed that it was the hardest he has ever played.
βTheyβve destroyed us,β said Cheatham. βWe told each other weβve got to change this not only or our sake, but also for Hurleyβs sake.β
So much for the oh-youβll-get-over-it theory.
The Sun Devils and their coach lusted for a chance to get back at the Wildcats, so much so that Hurley recently ran gassers at practice β end-line to end-line β one for each point of recent losses to Arizona.
One of those losses was by 38 points. Hurley ran 38 gassers.
βIβm exhausted, to be honest,β Hurley said after the game. βIt hasnβt sunk in what this means to me, other than we got another conference win and weβre 6-3. There was a lot to feel good about tonight.β
One of the big differences between the β19 Sun Devils and β19 Wildcats is that ASUβs senior transfer, Cheatham, has been a difference-maker. He grew up in Phoenix and spent three seasons at San Diego State before returning home.
He had an insiderβs view of Arizonaβs dominance in the series, and none of it sat well with him.
βFor me personally, growing up here, watching the dominance UA has had over our program β for me to come back home and play in my first-ever Territorial Cup game and come out victorious means a lot to me,β he said.
Hurley is now 1-6 against Arizona. The rematch at McKale Center is March 9. This time it wonβt be a late night game unknown to most of the rest of the country, but rather a mid-afternoon start on CBS.
Even in its present talent-challenged mode, the Wildcats and their fans surely got the message that the Sun Devils plan to sweep.
βItβs personal,β said Martin. βTo see what Hurleyβs been through against the UA, why not take our turn in history and keep it like this. This is for ASU nation.β
Donβt you just love it? The UA-ASU basketball series is back on.