ASU forward Bryant Selebangue celebrates after dunking against Washington State forward Isaac Jones during the second half the Sun Devilsβ upset win over the then-first-place Cougars in Tempe. ASUβs win came two days after No. 21 WSU defeated No. 4 Arizona in Tucson to temporarily take over the top spot in the Pac-12 from the Wildcats.
Arizona guard Pelle Larsson jostles with Washington forward Wilhelm Breidenbach, left, and forward Moses Wood, right, during the Wildcats' 91-75 win Saturday. UA once again controls its own destiny to win the Pac-12 regular-season title, but plays three of its last four conference games away from Tucson.
Arizona coach Tommy chats with an official late in the second half of Saturday's win. UA next plays an ASU team that it beat by 45 just over a week ago.Β βWe know they're gonna respond,β Lloyd said. βThey're a streaky team. The way they play is hard to play against. I'm sure they're gonna come out spirited, with great effort, and we respect them as a rival.β
During their last season together in the Pac-12βs unique travel partner system, Arizona and ASU have treated each other to some helpful parting gifts.
First, two days after Arizona outlasted Utah in triple-overtime on Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City, the Sun Devils marched into the Huntsman Center and snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the presumably drained Utes 85-77.
Then ASU coach Bobby Hurley sent UA coach Tommy Lloyd a text message.
βHe thanked me for wearing Utah down,β Lloyd said on his radio show the following Monday. βTrue story.β
On Saturday, Hurley and the Sun Devils paid the Wildcats back.
Two days after No. 21 Washington State beat No. 4 Arizona 77-74, pushing the Cougars a half-game ahead of the Wildcats atop the Pac-12 standings, ASU beat WSU 73-61 Saturday evening in Tempe.
The Sun Devilsβ win put Arizona back in solo possession of first place at 12-4, a game ahead of WSU in the loss column.
That gives the Wildcats control of their own destiny during their final two Pac-12 weeks, though the schedule is not to their advantage: Arizona will play three of its final four games on the road, with its only home game against third-place Oregon, while WSU will play all of its final three games at home β against USC, UCLA and Washington. The Cougars own the tiebreaker if they end up tied with Arizona by virtue of winning in both Pullman and Tucson.
The news from Tempe arrived not long after Arizona already left McKale Center on a happy note Saturday, having beaten Washington 91-75 to keep up their perfect record in the next game following a regular-season loss under Lloyd.
βToday itβs a response game,β Lloyd said Saturday. βYou just need to get that result.β
They always do. The Wildcats have now played 99 games without back-to-back losses and are 15-0 in the next game after a loss in Lloydβs nearly three seasons with the Wildcats, winning by double-digits in all but two of those wins.
βLetβs just say that does say a lot about this teamβs character because after a loss like we donβt let our last mistake affect our next opportunity,β said center Oumar Ballo. βWe always β¦ try to come back even stronger against the next opponent that we get a chance to play against.β
Last season, Arizona even avenged each of its five regular-season losses with a win later over the team that beat them.
But things get a little tricky now for the Wildcats because the Sun Devilsβ gift did arrive with a string attached.
That is, Arizona now has to play them. At their place, where the Sun Devils just might be due for more success.
ASU has lost three straight games to Arizona at Desert Financial Arena, though, true to their typically unpredictable ways, the Sun Devils managed to beat Arizona at McKale last season on Desmond Cambridgeβs 60-foot buzzer-beater.
All that means despite Arizonaβs 105-60 drubbing of ASU on Feb. 17, their rematch Wednesday could be something else entirely.
βWe know theyβre gonna respond,β Lloyd said Saturday. βTheyβre a streaky team. The way they play is hard to play against. Iβm sure theyβre gonna come out spirited, with great effort, and we respect them as a rival.β
On Saturday, ASU held WSU to just 39.3% shooting while the Cougars made just 3 of 18 3-pointers β including none of the seven long-range shots they put up in the second half.
Maybe the Cougars, like the Utes were earlier this month, were a bit worn down after a big game against Arizona two days earlier. But, whatever the case, Hurley said he saw a defensive response in his team he hadnβt seen before.
It was βthe best defense we played in the season, in terms of they are a handful around the basket, and theyβve got guys who can shoot, and playmakers,β Hurley said. βItβs one of the great stories in college basketball of what theyβve been able to do β¦ but our defense was up to the challenge.β
Then again, so was Arizonaβs on Saturday. The Wildcats held Washington to just 38.2% shooting while leading almost wire-to-wire, determined to put their late-night downer on Thursday behind them.
βYouβre fighting to get back on that winning side of the ledger, and so thatβs what today came down to,β Lloyd said after Saturdayβs game. βLosing games is tough at Arizona. Trust me. I donβt know if itβs tougher on anybody than me. The last 36 hours I havenβt slept much.
βI just want to do great for this team and for this program and for the community. So Iβm glad we got back on the winning side of things.β
Photos: Arizona takes down Washington 91-75, Pac 12 basketball
Photos: Arizona pound on on arch rival ASU 105-60, Pac-12 men's college basketball