ASU (13-16, 4-14) at No. 24 Arizona (19-10, 13-5) | McKale Center | 9 p.m., Tuesday | ESPN | 1290-AM
PROBABLE STARTERS
ARIZONA
G Jaden Bradley (6-3 junior)
G Caleb Love (6-4 senior)
F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 junior)
F Trey Townsend (6-6 senior)
C Tobe Awaka (6-8 junior)
ASU
G Alston Mason (6-2 senior)
G Adam Miller (6-3 senior)
F Joson Sanon (6-5 freshman)
F Basheer Jihad (6-9 senior)
C Shawn Phillips (7-0 junior)
How they match up
The last time: Caleb Love scored 27 points before he was ejected with 30 seconds left to help Arizona beat ASU 81-72 in an emotional game on March 1 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. Love and ASU’s BJ Freeman were both tossed after Freeman head-butted Love and officials assessed Love with a flagrant foul for his response. Both teams shot only 37% but Arizona outrebounded ASU 52-38 and hit 21 of 22 free throws, scoring 11 more points at the line.
Series history: Arizona leads its instate rival 162-86 and has won four straight since Desmond Cambridge hit a three-quarter-court buzzer-beater to beat the Wildcats 89-88 on Feb. 25, 2023 at McKale Center.
What’s new with the Sun Devils: ASU’s Feb. 1 loss to Arizona was the first of eight Sun Devil losses in a nine-game stretch, sending ASU to 15th place in the 16-team Big 12 and putting heat on 10th-year coach Bobby Hurley. But that stretch includes a one-point loss to Kansas State, a four-point loss to TCU and a double-overtime loss at Texas Tech.
The Sun Devils have also had significant health issues, including the current loss of five-star freshman big Jayden Quaintance, who has missed the past three games with a knee injury suffered at Kansas State on Feb. 23. Guard Adam Miller also missed ASU’s loss at Utah on Saturday with a hip injury.
Meanwhile, Hurley dismissed Freeman before ASU’s Feb. 23 game at Kansas State, which the Sun Devils won 66-54. Freeman’s loss whittled ASU’s rotation down to just seven players, with guards Alston Mason and Joson Sanon both playing 37 minutes on Saturday at Utah, with Sanon scoring 28 points.
UA assistant coach TJ Benson, who has been scouting the Sun Devils, said ASU is playing a similar style to how it did with Freeman, Miller and Quaintance in the lineup. UA is expecting Miller to return but not Quaintance.
The Sun Devils rank 54th nationally in defensive efficiency and are especially tougher up front. Quaintance and Basheer Jihad team in the post with 7-footer Shawn Phillips, and ASU ranks 42nd in block percentage, swatting away 12.6% of opponents’ two-point shots.
Key players
ASU – Joson Sanon
When Caleb Love announced he was returning to the Wildcats last spring, the then-UA commit quote-tweeted him by adding “LOVE IT” – and then announced 20 minutes later he was flipping to ASU. Now he’ll get a chance to face Love in his last game at McKale Center.
Gonzaga guard Khalif Battle, left, controls the ball while pressured by Arizona State guard Joson Sanon (3) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona State, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Spokane, Wash.
Arizona – Jaden Bradley
On Senior Night, a junior will also have plenty of incentive. UA’s normally steady point guard was also caught up in the emotion of playing at ASU last month, picking up three fouls that included a technical for his gesture toward the Sun Devils’ bench.
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) jumps for the layup during the Wildcats’ game against ASU at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Feb. 1, 2025.
Sidelines
Wildcats slip to No. 24
Arizona slipped two spots to No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and the Wildcats may also be slipping out of the zone for a preferential top four seed in the NCAA Tournament.
CBS' updated bracket projection now has UA a No. 6 NCAA Tournament seed, a spot that would mean Arizona would be less likely to open in Denver and potentially face a tougher first-round game. The Bracket Matrix average had UA as No. 4, with a scattering of No. 3 and No. 6 seeds from individual projections within, as of Monday.
In the AP poll, Auburn and Duke remained 1-2 at the top, while Houston moved up one spot to No. 3 and Iowa State barely extended its streak of Top 10 rankings to 25 weeks when the Cyclones dropped one spot to No. 10 despite losing at Oklahoma State last week.
Among other UA opponents this season, Wisconsin dropped one spot to No. 12 while BYU (21-8, 12-6) jumped over UA into the No. 23 spot from No. 25.
No Love-Freeman 'rematch'
Freeman’s dismissal meant he and Love won’t get a chance to renew their relationship, which resulted in both of them being tossed on Feb. 1 in Tempe, Freeman for head-butting Love, and Love for his reaction to it.
The Big 12 confirmed that both players had been assessed Flagrant 2 fouls, which call for an immediate ejection but not a suspension unless specifically called for fighting.
Freeman actually was twice ejected for Flagrant 2 fouls this season and was suspended for ASU’s Feb. 9 game at Oklahoma State over what Hurley said was "conduct detrimental to the team."
Then, after playing three more games, Freeman was booted for good.
"It was unfortunate that it's coming to this," Hurley said, according to the Arizona Republic. "He's our leading scorer, very productive player for us. It's just we had too many instances of either player or coach conduct with B.J. and he was already suspended once so it was a really hard decision to make.
"But based on this year — and he's got another season to play — I'm sure he's going to still have a really good market for a place to land next year."
Freeman wound up averaging a team-high 13.7 points and 3.9 rebounds, scoring more than 20 points four times.
Love said “it didn’t matter” that Freeman won’t be around and that he had no reaction to Freeman’s dismissal.
Late-night party?
While the presence of ASU and Senior Night ceremonies suggest an electric atmosphere at McKale Center on Tuesday, ESPN’s decision to start the game at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday night threatens to unplug it.
Or maybe not.
“I hope it's raucous,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said. “I hope everybody understands there's this thing in life called Happy Hour, and usually the food and the drinks are discounted. I hope they fully participate in that, and that they come to root on a Wildcat team that's battled for them all year, and done a great job representing the community.
“Tucson is built for it. It's not a sexy place all the time, and we're used to being gritty and fighting for it, and this team has represented that. So I hope they come out and they honor the team the way they should be honored. And I expect they will …
“Then I hope our guys come out and honor the fans with an effort that McKale and our fan base deserves.”
Numbers game
9: Composite national ranking for ASU’s 2024 recruiting class, including Sanon, Quaintance and forward Amier Ali.
11: ASU losses in 14 Quad One games.
310: Arizona’s national ranking in 3-point percentage defense.
