Yes, it's official now. Kenpom says so...
Unbeaten teams remaining: 0 (Sorry, Arizona St.).
β Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) December 31, 2017
The bookmakers and bettors of Nevada were so good at weeding through the hype to pick a favorite Saturday at McKale Center that they didn't even make any money.
Even though ASU was ranked No. 3 and undefeated heading into Saturdayβs game, bookies made the 17th-ranked Wildcats a five-point favorite.
Then, betting action on the Wildcats moved the line to six. UA won 84-78, making the game a push for those who bet it at 6.
But the way UA coach Sean Miller views it, the margin could have been slightly more. Arizona gave up three turnovers in the final 3:16, one eventually leading to a 3-pointer by Tra Holder and another directly leading to a 3 from Kodi Justice. UA finished with 16 turnovers.
βThe game was really funny,β Miller said. βWe came really unglued the last four minutes, five minutes. β¦ We had some opportunities we didnβt get and we had some opportunities we gave them.β
Then again, Miller said Saturdayβs game played out largely as he expected, in a close manner befitting of what are the Pac-12βs two best teams so far.
βTheyβre a really good team,β Miller said. βWeβre not going to beat them by 20 points, 10, 15 points. For us to win that game going away, a lot of things would have had to have really have fallen in place. The difference between the two teams isnβt big enough for the game to go that direction.β
But the difference was Deandre Ayton, along with some late scoring punch from Allonzo Trier, who offset some of Tra Holderβs 15 free throws made by going 10 for 10 from the line.
βAllonzo and Deandre, their performance was spectacular,β Miller said. βI hope everybody in McKale realizes what 23 points and 19 rebounds feels like. For a freshman, you donβt see that very often and thatβs what Deandre had. At the end, he had some unforced turnovers or forced turnovers -- he wasnβt used to getting rebounds and nobodyβs running back. But heβs young. Heβll learn from it as will our team.
βSame with Allonzo. Sometimes heβll start slow but as the game keeps going he finds his rhythm, and itβs great to have the ball in his hands at the end of the game because he can really shoot free throws, drive and shoot from three and heβs become a really good passer. Sometimes I find myself saying, man, heβs come a long way for me to say that but four assists and no turnovers (against ASU) speaks volumes for how heβs finding his teammates and takes care of the ball.β
Trier finished with 23 points after scoring just five in the first half on 1-for-7 shooting. Miller said, for the most part, Trier typically works himself out of issues.
βHeβs that type of player, but certainly we always look at if thereβs something we can do to help him,β Miller said. βI would say thatβs something heβs done this year. Heβs started slow and finished strong. We need him to start strong and finish strong. And what would that game look like? it would be a monster game.β
Another lesson to be learned: The technical foul Ayton was called for in the first half.
βI think I got it on off ball shove,β Ayton said. βI was getting grabbed. It was an intense game, so I donβt know.β
Miller offered a measured reaction.
βHe might have bumped somebody after the whistle," he said. "Weβll look at it. Deandreβs not a guy who goes looking for problems. Probably just has to make sure he understands the rule, coming from high school to college, youβre not allowed to do that and if you do hereβs the consequence.
βIn a game like that I was surprised the call was made, but it was a tough game to referee. It really was. It was fast, had a lot of emotion, a lot of things going on. I thought they did a good job.β
When official Eric Curry came over to the Pac-12 Network crew to explain the technical, fans behind them booed loudly, so much so that he had to raise his voice.
When he finished, Curry gestured at some of the louder fans and said βsit down!β
Overall, Miller, not surprisingly, had no trouble speaking highly of Ayton every time he was asked about him in his post-game interview.
βDeandre has a great attitude. Heβs really fun to coach. Heβs an unbelievable teammate. He rises to the challenge. Big games bring out the best in him. He was ready for tonightβs game, and thank goodness. He really put the game out of reach.
βWhen we won the game it was because of his dominance close to the basket, getting fouled. We did a good job of getting him the ball deep and thatβs not as easy to do as everybody thinks. And Deandre for the most part did a really good job on defense in the job and role that he had.
"(ASU forward) Romello White didnβt have his typical game and that combination of Deandre and Dusan (Ristic) affected him, Iβm sure, at least to some degree.β
Arizona and ASU will meet again on Feb. 15 in Tempe and it would hardly be surprising if they also met deep in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Trier said the Sun Devils are clearly a different team than the one he faced in two previous seasons, when UA beat them all four times.
βDifferent team. Different dynamic,β Trier said. βObviously, they came in really hot, playing with a lot of confidence as well and anytime somebody has confidence it allows them to do some things better and they feel really good playing. Tip of the hat to them. They played really well tonight. Challenged us tonight all the way to the wire and theyβll continue to win in the conference.β
Then Sun Devils began calling themselves "Guard U" after beating Xavier (see the "It Happened in Vegas" note here), and Arizona decided to apparently troll them with a video introΒ featuring its own guards of the past.
UA, of course, used to be known as "Point Guard U."
Our full coverage and PDFs of the box score and UA stats are attached to this post.
