Arizona State players chase guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. (4) down the court after his buzzer-beater from beyond half-court gave the Sun Devils an 89-88 upset over Arizona at McKale Center.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Probable starters

ARIZONA

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 junior)

G Courtney Ramey (6-3 senior)

F Cedric Henderson (6-6 senior)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 junior)

C Oumar Ballo (7-0 junior)

ASU

G Frankie Collins (6-1 sophomore)

G DJ Horne (6-1 junior)

F Desmond Cambridge (6-4 senior)

F Devan Cambridge (6-6 senior)

C Warren Washington (7-0 senior)

How they match up

How they got here: Arizona went 14-6 in the Pac-12 to finish in a second-place tie with USC, earning the Pac-12 Tournament’s No. 2 seed based on its season sweep of the Trojans, and then beat Stanford 95-84 in a quarterfinal game Thursday.

ASU went 11-9 in conference play and finished in a fifth-place tie with Washington State but dropped to the No. 6 seed because the Cougars beat USC during the regular season and ASU did not. The Sun Devils then beat 11th-seeded Oregon State 63-57 in the first round Wednesday and third-seeded USC 77-72 in the quarterfinals Friday.

Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis, right, shoots against Stanford forward Spencer Jones during the first half of the Wildcats' 95-84 win over the Cardinal in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament on March 9, 2023, in Las Vegas.

The season series: The intrastate rivalry took an unusual twist this season, when Arizona beat ASU in Tempe but ASU beat UA at McKale Center.

On Dec 31 in Tempe, UA won 69-60 despite nearly throwing away a 17-point halftime lead. The Wildcats made just 2 of 11 shots to begin the second half, while ASU went on a 19-4 run to pull within two points. But Arizona never trailed the Sun Devils, with Azuolas Tubelis leading the way with 21 points and nine rebounds. Oumar Ballo added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Wildcats ultimately won the game at the free-throw line, taking 16 more trips than ASU did and making 22 of 26 free throws. ASU was 7 for 10.

On Feb. 25 at McKale Center, ASU’s Desmond Cambridge hit a 60-footer from the Lute Olson signature on the right sideline to give the Sun Devils an 89-88 victory in the Wildcats’ home season finale. ASU entered the game ranked last in the Pac-12 in 3-point shooting (29.0) and eighth in overall field-goal shooting (41.4) during conference games — but shot 53.7% overall and hit 6 of 16 3-pointers (37.5%).

Pac-12 Tournament history: Arizona has played ASU only twice in the Pac-12 Tournament, and not since 2008-09, when ASU beat the Wildcats 68-56 in the quarterfinals before the Wildcats grabbed one of the final NCAA Tournament berths and made an improbable Sweet 16 run. The teams also met in the first round of the 2002 conference tournament, which was revived that season after a 12-year absence and placed at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. UA won that matchup 73-56 and went on to win the tournament title.

Overall series history: Arizona’s loss to ASU on Feb. 25 snapped a streak of five straight UA wins in the series. The Wildcats lead the 109-year-old intrastate rivalry overall 157-86.

What’s new with the Sun Devils

Since beating Arizona, the Sun Devils have continued to live on the NCAA Tournament bubble. They lost to both USC and UCLA last weekend but notched a Quad 1 win Thursday by beating the Trojans, who were rated No. 48 as of Thursday (if the Trojans slip past No. 50, ASU’s win will be categorized as a Quad 2).

After losing both its games to USC during the regular season, ASU figured it out on Thursday. The Sun Devils only shot 39.0% from the field but hit 14 of 32 3-pointers and scored 10 points off 14 USC turnovers. ASU also made up for its poor shooting by scoring 21 points off 14 offensive rebounds.

Desmond Cambridge struggled initially after his buzzer-beater at McKale, scoring just 15 total points in Los Angeles last weekend and shooting 3 of 11 from 3-point range on Wednesday against Oregon State. But he led the Sun Devils with 27 points and seven rebounds while hitting 7 of 12 3-pointers on Thursday against USC.

Guard DJ Horne had 20 points at USC last week and scored 16 in Thursday’s game against the Trojans, making 8 of 10 free throws. Center Warren Washington had just two points on Thursday but had eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

KEY PLAYERS

ASU — Desmond Cambridge

Already etched into ASU-UA basketball history, Cambridge will get another crack at the Wildcats. He says it will be “hard to overcome” the aftermath of his game-winning shot but that the chance to win the Pac-12 Tournament will add motivation. Whatever the case, the Wildcats just might be closing out on him defensively a little more this time.

ARIZONA — Kylan Boswell

UA’s steadily improving freshman sandwiched a big weekend in L.A. with light production against ASU on Feb. 25 and Thursday against Stanford. Boswell made it to the line to hit 3 of 4 free throws against ASU but was 0 for 1 from the field with no assists in only 10 minutes. UA likely will need him to do more this time, especially if Kerr Kriisa’s shoulder remains sore after he injured it vs. Stanford.

Arizona guard Kerr Kriisa exited the Wildcats' win over Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament with a right shoulder injury. Kriisa returned for the second half with tape on his shoulder. Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star

Sidelines

Buzzkill

In the minutes and hours after hitting his game-winner at McKale Center nearly two weeks ago, Cambridge soaked it all up.

Then he almost drowned.

“My phone was glitching at one point,” Cambridge said in ASU's locker room after their win Thursday night. “After that shot, so many random people, everyone in class and just in Tempe (were in contact). That's why I tried to put myself in a little shell, tried not to talk to anyone and just stay in my own lane because I knew we had to do plenty more things to do.”

To make sure the shell stayed sealed shut, Cambridge even deleted the Twitter and Instagram apps off his phone temporarily while keeping his accounts alive for when things return to normal.

“It was just way too much,” Cambridge said. “Way too much. People you haven't talked to for four or five years come out of the woodwork. So that's why you keep that circle tight.”

“It was a big-time game. … It felt like like an Elite Eight type of game. … It was an early glimpse into March Madness," ASU men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley said regarding the Sun Devils' half-court buzzer-beater against Arizona in Tucson not long ago. While Arizona and ASU will have a rematch in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals on March 10, 2023, Hurley spoke to reporters March 9 after ASU's 77-72 win over USC in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star

Prepping for Madness

At the same time, Cambridge said hitting his shot was a confidence booster for his game, while ASU coach Bobby Hurley said the game proved to be a preview of sorts of what March Madness would be like.

“It was a big-time game,” Hurley said. “I said after that it felt like an Elite Eight. With the scoring, the shot-making, it was an early glimpse into March Madness and what that's all about.

“There’s a lot of things that we're gonna have to do in order to have some success (Friday) night, but it's what you live for.”

The other perspective

Arizona’s Courtney Ramey probably won’t get Cambridge’s shot completely out of his mind anytime soon either.

Maybe never.

“I've never lost in a way like that before,” Ramey said Thursday. “I think we played a great game the whole game. I don't know what happened to make a shot like that. I mean, it was like a one-in-a-million shot. I feel like if you practice that shot 10 times, I don't think he makes it once. But credit to him. He's a great player. He was all-league. He made the shot.

“I just think we kind of flushed it and moved past it.”

Numbers game

0 — ASU losses in five games played on neutral courts this season.

5 — Straight UA wins in the Pac-12 Tournament (UA won the 2022 event and play was canceled after the Wildcats won a first-round game against Washington in 2020).

12 — ASU wins away from home this season.

Arizona men's basketball coach Tommy Lloyd said he isn't concerned with Arizona’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament or location of first and second rounds: “If you’re worried about that stuff after a 31-game regular season, then you’re worried about the wrong things.” Lloyd spoke to local media March 7, 2023 at McKale center, ahead of the 2023 Pac-12 men's basketball tournament. Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter: @brucepascoe