TEMPE – Arizona gave away an 18-point lead over ASU before a rowdy sold-out crowd Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena but revived down the stretch for a 77-70 win.
Deandre Ayton led the Wildcats with 25 points and 16 rebounds, while Dusan Ristic had 12 points and 10 rebounds, including 2 of 3 3-point attempts. For ASU, Tra Holder had 20 points and Kodi Justice had 19.
ASU was held to just 42.4 percent shooting overall and made 7 of 25 3-pointers. Arizona shot 48.1 percent but turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 20 ASU points off turnovers.
The win moved 17th-ranked Arizona to 21-6 overall and 11-3 in the Pac-12, while 25th-ranked ASU dropped to 19-7 and 7-7.
Although the Wildcats pulled away at the end, Holder’s shooting heated up late in the second half to help make it closer. Holder hit 4 of 8 3-pointers on Dec. 30 at McKale Center, but missed his first five 3s on Thursday before hitting one that pulled ASU within 60-57, later making a layup that cut UA’s lead to just a point.
The game remained within one possession until Allonzo Trier hit a 3-pointer to give UA a 68-63 lead with 2:17 to go and then, after ASU missed two shot attempts, Ayton dunked to give UA a 70-63 lead with 1:25 left.
Ayton hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to seal the win for Arizona.
Arizona trailed 48-43 five minutes into the second half, but went on a 10-2 run to take a 53-50 lead when Keanu Pinder made a pair of free throws with 10 minutes left.
Having nearly wiped out Arizona’s first-half lead before halftime, the Sun Devils took care of it early in the second half. They went on a 8-0 run to go ahead 46-39, while Arizona missed seven of its first eight shots, prompting UA coach Sean Miller to call a timeout with 17:03 left.
Dusan Ristic scored inside just after the timeout to cut ASU’s lead to 46-41 and the Wildcats then worked their way back into the lead.
In the first half, ASU nearly wiped away Arizona’s leads of up to 18 points, the Wildcats taking a 39-38 lead into halftime Thursday in the first half.
The Sun Devils missed their first five 3-pointers and made just 7 of 19 field goals overall through the first 12 minutes but nearly caught the Wildcats with a flurry in the final minutes.
Shannon Evans hit a 25-footer near the UA bench to cut the Wildcats’ lead to just 37-36 and two free throws from Holder later brought ASU again within a point, 39-38, with 20 seconds to go, and final possessions by both teams failed to produce a score.
UA shot 56 percent from the field in the first half but had 10 turnovers that led to 10 ASU points while the Sun Devils shot 43.8 percent despite their early struggles.
After ASU missed its first five 3-pointers, the Sun Devils found a rhythm and began cutting into UA’s lead. Justice hit 3s on two straight Sun Devil possessions, and Remy Martin later hit another to bring ASU within 35-29 with 3:41 left in the half.
Arizona took early leads of 7-0 and 11-2 while ASU missed three of its first four shots and committed three turnovers in the first three and a half minutes. Deandre Ayton dominated during one stretch, blocking a three-piont attempt from Vitaliy Shibel between shots on the other end.
UA later went up 26-11 after Ristic hit unguarded 3-pointers at the top of the key on two straight Wildcat possessions. At that point, ASU was shooting just 5 of 14 from the field and missed all three 3-pointers it tried.
