Keshad Johnson was in San Diego a year ago, and Jaden Bradley in Alabama. But they saw it.
How could they not?
Desmond Cambridge sunk a 60-foot buzzer beater to give ASU an improbable 89-88 win and spoil Senior Day at McKale Center last season, so Johnson and Bradley made sure things were different this time.
A lot different. Bradley had a career-high 21 points off the bench while Johnson was one of five other Arizona players in double figures during the Wildcats’ 105-60 rout of the Sun Devils, the most lopsided score in the intrastate rivalry’s 101-year history.
There was no need to see Cambridge’s shot again
“The whole world is seeing the videos when that happens,” Johnson said. “We know what that is, especially losing at home … once we decided to sign with Arizona we knew what side we were on. So we just got to gotta keep keeping our head down.”
They didn’t need to see it again, and UA coach Tommy Lloyd said they didn’t see “one clip” from the game, because they didn’t need to for another reason.
Arizona guard Kylan Boswell (4) pressures Arizona State guard Jose Perez (12) in the first half Saturday in Tucson. Boswell was one of six Wildcats in double figures, joining teammates Jaden Bradley, Caleb Love, Oumar Ballo, Keshad Johnson and Paulius Murauskas with at least 10 points in the 45-point blowout.
“If you need extra motivation like that, you’re probably not competitive enough and we’re fighting to have a great season for our program and to try to compete for a conference championship,” Lloyd said. “I think that should be motivation enough.”
Already given a tentative No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed as of the earlier Saturday during the selection committee’s early bracket reveal, the Wildcats also maintained their one-game lead atop the Pac-12 with the dominant win Saturday.
The win moved Arizona to 20-5 overall and 12-3 in the Pac-12, where the Wildcats remain in first place with a one-game lead over Washington State. The Cougars, who beat Arizona 73-70 on Jan. 13 in Pullman, will bring a seven-game winning streak into their game with Arizona at McKale Center on Thursday.
The Wildcats will bring a similar sort of momentum. They have now won six straight games, while center Oumar Ballo has posted five straight double-doubles and Bradley poured in his career-high 21 points in just 21 minutes off the bench.
The Wildcats were so productive up and down the bench that, while wing Pelle Larsson was limited to just five points, even little-used reserve forward Paulius Murauskas poured in 12 poinmts in just five minutes.
Arizona State center Shawn Phillips Jr. (9) clotheslines Arizona center Oumar Ballo (11) on his drive toward the bucket in the first half Saturday in Tucson.
This one was never much of a game.
After taking a 49-31 lead at halftime, Arizona didn’t let up the rest of the way thanks in part to Bradley, who had 13 of his points in the second half.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Johnson blocked a layup by ASU’s Jose Perez and then made a layup on UA’s resulting fast break to put the Wildcats ahead 53-35. A 3-pointer from Love gave UA a 21-point lead with 17:20 left, and the Wildcats were off.
Arizona took a 30-point lead with 8:04 left when Johnson made a layup and led by up to 31, while UA Lloyd inserted deep reserves Filip Borovicanin, Murauskas and Conrad Martinez over the final six minutes.
“Everybody had a great contribution,” Johnson said. “JB had a career high, Paulius had a career high, so that shows we came to this game ready. Everybody came into the game ready. … It’s another game but it’s still more history. We just do it for Tucson and we do it for the whole state of Arizona.”
In the first half, Ballo had nine points and nine rebounds to help Arizona take a 49-31 halftime lead.
Guard Caleb Love added 12 points for UA, which shot 67.7% from the field, outscoring, ASU 30-10 in the paint while also hitting 4 of 10 3-point attempts.
Starting a smaller lineup featuring the 6-foot-5 veteran Jose Perez at power forward, the Sun Devils took early leads of 9-4 and 13-10. After Bradley tied the game at 15 when he drove inside for a layup, ASU guard Adam Miller hit a two-point jumper and a 3-pointer to give the Sun Devils a 20-15 lead with 12:38 left in the first half.
But Arizona tied the game at 20 when Motiejus Krivas blocked a shot from Bryan Selebangue inside, and Love drove inside for a dunk on the other end. The Wildcats scored seven straight points to take a 33-24 lead and starting building double-digit leads after Love hit a 3-pointer with 4:34 left.
In recording his career high in scoring, Bradley continued his ever-efficient ways by hitting 8 of 11 field goals, including the only 3-pointer he took, while going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line. He also had four rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.
Ballo had 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting, going 5 for 9 from the line, while grabbing 11 rebounds in 22 minutes.
As a team, Arizona shot 57.1% from the field while holding ASU to just 36.2%.
But while it was a rough night for the Sun Devils, thanks to a quirk in this season’s Pac-12 schedule, ASU will have a chance to get own payback while hosting Arizona at Desert Financial Arena on Feb. 28.
“I have a lot of respect for Arizona State and Bobby (Hurley, ASU coach),” Lloyd said. “It was just one of those days where things went our way and, I’m sure in 10 days, they’ll be ready for a little bit of redemption. So we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
No. 5 Arizona 105, Arizona St. 60
ARIZONA ST. (13-13)
Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Collins 3-11 1-3 8, Miller 6-13 2-2 16, Perez 5-11 4-6 14, Neal 4-9 3-4 12, Selebangue 1-3 2-4 4, Lands 1-7 0-2 3, Gaffney 1-1 0-1 3, Green 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-2 0-0 0, Hurley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 12-22 60.
ARIZONA (20-5)
Johnson 5-8 4-5 14, Ballo 5-5 5-9 15, Boswell 3-9 3-4 11, Larsson 2-4 1-2 5, Love 6-11 0-0 15, Bradley 8-11 4-4 21, Lewis 2-4 0-0 4, Krivas 2-5 4-4 8, Martinez 0-0 0-0 0, Murauskas 3-4 4-4 12, Borovicanin 0-2 0-0 0, Weitman 0-0 0-0 0, Champion 0-0 0-0 0, Menaugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-63 25-32 105.
Halftime—Arizona 49-31. 3-Point Goals—Arizona St. 6-24 (Miller 2-5, Gaffney 1-1, Lands 1-4, Neal 1-4, Collins 1-7, Watson 0-1, Perez 0-2), Arizona 8-20 (Love 3-7, Murauskas 2-2, Boswell 2-6, Bradley 1-1, Borovicanin 0-1, Larsson 0-1, Johnson 0-2). Fouled Out—Phillips, Gaffney. Rebounds—Arizona St. 25 (Neal 6), Arizona 44 (Ballo 11). Assists—Arizona St. 9 (Miller, Perez 2), Arizona 21 (Bradley 5). Total Fouls—Arizona St. 20, Arizona 18.
