Arizona and ASU have been basketball rivals since 1914, so there is precedent for every conceivable plot, plight and scenario covering 241 games.
How about the game-is-over-at-halftime narrative?
In 1989, No. 1 Arizona led the Sun Devils 52-32 at half. The outcome was so locked in that UA coach Lute Olson didn’t fully participate in his team’s halftime chalk talk. He stayed on the court to present a $1,500 check to the UA Arthritis Center and give a brief talk.
Arizona won 109-74. Interim ASU coach Bob Schermerhorn said “after the first five minutes I knew it was over.”
On Monday, 32 years later, no one was handing out checks but the Sun Devils paid a steep price, falling behind 40-18 at halftime, losing 80-67.
“We were kind of lethargic out of the gate,” said ASU coach Bobby Hurley. “Bottom line, Arizona was the hungrier team. There wasn’t a whole lot we could do.”
The Sun Devils’ belated rally was meaningless.
When Arizona stretched its lead to 53-28, ASU’s two best players, Remy Martin and Josh Christopher, had combined to shoot 1 for 16. Talk about missing the starter’s gun.
Over the last three decades, Arizona has often been merciless against ASU at McKale Center, winning games 127-99, 116-80, 106-81 and 99-59. Monday’s game does not belong in that category because, as UA coach Sean Miller said “we got shook there for about a four-minute stretch late in the game.”
Shook, but not all shook up.
The issue Arizona carries forward is that it doesn’t yet have the experience or killer instinct of Top 25 teams. It doesn’t have enough game-ready guards. Up by 26, the Wildcats lost their edge. They got involved in petty bickering and lost some poise. It should be a strong teaching point for Miller.
What was more puzzling was that the Sun Devils were flat. How do you come out flat when you’ve lost five straight and have gone 5-32 at McKale Center dating to 1984? It was a season-at-stake, something-to-prove game for ASU, the last chance to turn around a humbling start that included a loss to UTEP, a team that lost 63-33 last week to North Texas.
Back-to-back losses to Arizona across the last five days effectively ended ASU’s season. The Sun Devils have lost six straight games and have been exposed. They have no inside game. No height. No hope. They seem to be suffering from senioritis, with too many my-turn-to-shoot players, something that plagued Arizona during the Allonzo Trier years.
ASU is in such a deep hole that even if it is able to avoid COVID-19 shutdowns and play a full 20-game conference schedule, it’s over.
They are in last place.
“That’s where we’re at,” said Hurley. “We haven’t earned the right to come out like that.”
It’s much less complicated for the Wildcats. There is no pot of postseason gold available, but for the first time this season, the UA has played with such nerve and energy, flashing periods of elite talent, that you find yourself thinking “hey, these guys could be good someday.”
Sean Miller said his team lost focus for a few minutes against ASU, but the huge lead Arizona built early ensured it wasn’t a big problem.
You could get caught thinking ahead the 2022-23 season when it is possible that Arizona’s lineup could look this way:
Junior power forward Azoulas Tubelis.
Junior wing Bennedict Mathurin.
Senior center Christian Koloko.
Junior guard Dalen Terry.
Junior shooting guard Kerr Kriisa.
Of course, the odds of any coach keeping the core of this young team together for two more seasons is implausible in modern college basketball. By the time Arizona and ASU meet at McKale a year from now, it’s not unlikely 50% of each team’s rosters will have turned over. Who knows?
Enjoy this one for what it’s worth: an unexpected sweep over the once-highly ranked Sun Devils and the growing chance for Arizona to be a spoiler, helping to determine if UCLA, Colorado or Oregon wins the Pac-12 title.
Beating the Sun Devils ceased being a milestone victory at Arizona many years ago. Even Hurley is only 3-9 against the Wildcats. But Monday’s triumph did produce a significant number: It was Miller’s 400th game as Arizona’s coach and it signifies more than longevity.
No athletic director in the Pac-12 keeps a coach on payroll long enough to coach 400 games unless he’s cut down a few nets.
Here’s the short list of Pac-10/12 coaches employed between 1978-2021 who have coached 400 games at their school:
Olson, 727.
Ned Wulk, ASU, 678.
Mike Montgomery, Stanford, 560.
Ralph Miller, Oregon State, 545.
Lorenzo Romar, Washington, 494.
Ernie Kent, Oregon, 408.
A lot of successful coaches — UCLA’s Ben Howland and Jim Harrick; Washington’s Marv Harshman; USC’s George Raveling; Cal’s Ben Braun — didn’t get to 400 at one school.
Longevity counts, and if nothing else, you can now put Sean Miller on a short list of coaches able to be good enough, long enough, to cash some big checks.
Over the last five days, ASU’s Hurley learned those checks aren’t easily earned.
