Charli Turner Thorne chose not to contest the final 9.3 seconds of Sunday’s 62-58 loss to Arizona, walking off the court before the final buzzer, not looking back to see the Wildcats and 8,480 rackety fans celebrate one of those whew, that was too close for comfort victories.
Why prolong the anguish and give Arizona two more foul shots, anyway? Shake hands? A goodbye wave? Not this year.
ASU’s coach didn’t make the drive to Tucson to be satisfied with a split in the Territorial Cup series, but not all was lost. By the time the Sun Devils boarded a bus bound for Tempe, UA coach Adia Barnes spoke the obvious:
“ASU is a tournament team,” she said. “They are very difficult to play against.”
Maybe it should’ve been Arizona that came away happy with a split.
Put this down as the first prediction of March Madness: A month from now, Arizona will be host of the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at McKale Center, and the Wildcats will not be bracketed against anyone as good as the Sun Devils until, at earliest, the Sweet 16.
A lot of people dismissed ASU after it lost early-season games to unranked Minnesota, Houston and Creighton, but now we know what happened. Thorne was breaking in under-the-radar transfers Jade Loville from Boise State and Mael Gilles from Rutgers, both of whom have emerged as the Sun Devils’ best players.
How good are they? Both would start for Arizona. Loville would probably be the UA’s leading scorer. If you’ve got two players that good at the Pac-12 level, there’s not much mystery to why ASU beat No. 19 Oregon and No. 6 Arizona in a six-day period before arriving in Tucson.
That makes it easier to explain Arizona’s struggle to beat the Sun Devils. If the NCAA Tournament selection committee does its homework, a split with ASU will boost Arizona’s chances to get a No. 2 seed.
Here’s how difficult it was Sunday: With 7:44 remaining, Arizona led 57-51 and seemed to have found the gear necessary to put the Sun Devils away. But the Sun Devils stood firm. Arizona did not score for the next 6:20.
The year’s loudest and most emotionally invested crowd at McKale stood for the full 6:20. It was a stalemate. ASU crept to within 57-55 with 1:20 remaining. Every possession was basketball’s version of hand-to-hand combat.
“It was a little closer than we expected,” said UA freshman shooting whiz Madi Conner, who scored 16 points, mostly in relief of starting point guard Shaina Pellington. Beset by early foul trouble, going from 30 points Friday in Tempe, Pellington was limited to three points Sunday.
Arizona guard Madison Conner flexes after scoring during the second half of Sunday's rivalry win over ASU.
Without Conner, Arizona gets swept and probably drops a seed two on Selection Sunday.
Barnes’ team is deep enough that it was able to find a way to replace not just Pellington, but also center Lauren Ware, who was also in early foul trouble and limited to 14 minutes. Barnes inserted sophomore Koi Love, who scored 11 points and, more importantly, stole the ball on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter, erasing ASU’s 46-40 lead as the Wildcats rallied from a sinkhole.
“They punched and we punched right back,” said Love, who averaged 20 points a game last year at Vanderbilt but has, of late, become one of the Pac-12’s top off-the-bench players.
Without Conner and Love, big trouble.
Barnes worked as hard for Arizona’s split against ASU as she probably has worked for any game this season. Instead of a day-before-game walk-through or shoot-around on Saturday, Barnes intensified the schedule and directed an intense, full practice. Plus, she said that Sunday’s pre-game routine — normally no heavy lifting — was more detailed and urgent than usual.
That happens when you get outrebounded 42-25 on Friday and mess up on defense to the point that ASU made 31 of 34 free throws. No way you win a game like that.
On Sunday, it was reversed. Arizona out-rebounded ASU 27-25 and reduced Sun Devil scoring from the foul line from 31 to 11.
“We got it handed to us Friday,” Barnes said. Forty-eight hours later, ASU had to labor just to get an open shot. The Sun Devils shot 27% in the second half and missed every 3-pointer, 0-for-7.
Anything less and Arizona would’ve lost. Credit Barnes, who, once the Wildcats realized what a prolific scorer Loville could be, made it almost impossible for her to get an open shot on Sunday. Loville went from 27 points Friday to eight Sunday.
“Today wasn’t the prettiest game,” said Barnes, adding, “but we still found a way to win.”
It’s possible Arizona and ASU will meet again next month in the Pac-12 Tournament. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if the Sun Devils reach the league’s semifinals and continue their recent climb to back relevance after five seasons of mid-level finishes in the conference.
For 15 years, from 2005-19, Thorne and the Sun Devils dominated the Territorial Cup rivalry, winning 30 of 38 games against Arizona. It was probably the biggest dud of the Pac-12’s rivalry games.
“It’s no longer like that,” Barnes said Sunday. What once was a walkover is now 40-minutes of bedlam.
Can’t wait ‘til next year, can you?
