Inside The Wildcats

Arizona outscores Arizona State 113-100 in wild rivalry game

The Sun Devils nearly ran out players — again
Ben Sherman|
Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (1) holds up a three after he shoots a three-point shot during the first half against Arizona State at McKale Center.
Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (1) holds up a three after he shoots a three-point shot during the first half against Arizona State at McKale Center. | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

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The Arizona Wildcats couldn't stop rival Arizona State on Tuesday night, but they didn't have to.

Tommy Lloyd's team simply outscored the overmatched Sun Devils in a 113-100 victory where defense was optional for most of the game.

The win clinches a top-four seed in the Big 12 Tournament for Arizona (20-10, 14-5), who is now a 1/2 game ahead of Texas Tech for second place in the conference.

Arizona State (13-17, 4-15) came into the game shorthanded and finished the game with just four scholarship players after Adam Miller left with an injury and big men Basheer Jihad and Shawn Phillips Jr. fouled out. The Sun Devils kept the game close throughout by shooting 52.2% from the 3-point line (12-of-23). Alston Mason led the way with 33 points on 5-of-7 from downtown.

Henri Veesaar led Arizona with a career-high 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. KJ lewis scored 21 points off the bench, and Caleb Love had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on senior night.

Read our full game recap below:

SECOND HALF RECAP

Arizona 113, ASU 100, final: I've never quite seen anything like this game. 213 combined points. 70 free throws attempted. 48 personal fouls. Just 10 total turnovers. And both teams shook hands.

Arizona 106, ASU 96, 2:00 to play: Again, defense has been optional in this game.

Shawn Phillips Jr. fouls out: Bobby Hurley just lost his last big man. ASU is now down to four scholarship players and three walk ons. And they are all guards. Arizona leads 97-87 with 3:59 to play.

Basheer Jihad fouls out: Arizona State is now down to five scholarship players with 5:12 to play. Arizona leads 93-86.

Arizona 89, ASU 86, 6:12 left: ASU's Alston Mason drills another 3-pointer to make it a one possession game. Timeout Tommy Lloyd. The Sun Devils are 11-of-19 from beyond the arc. Mason has 27 points and is 5-of-7 from downtown.

First team to 110 wins? Arizona leads 89-81 with 6:54 left. The Wildcats might set a record for uncontested dunks in a single game. Arizona is shooting 58.5% from the field (31-of-53) and has 46 points in the paint.

Both teams in bonus: With more than 10 minutes to play both teams will be shooting free throws the rest of the way. This game might not end until midnight MST. Arizona leads 82-72.

Arizona 78, ASU 68, 11:02 left: The Sun Devils are staying in this game with ridiculous 3-point shooting (9-of-14). Freshman Joson Sanon, who initially committed to Arizona before flipping to ASU after Caleb Love announced he was returning, has 12 points. ASU point guard Alston Mason leads all scorers with 20 points. Love leads Arizona with 18 points. Defense has been optional so far.

Arizona State foul trouble: Bobby Hurley's only big man, Shawn Phillips Jr., just picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 13:42 left. ASU brings in freshman guard Trevor Best, giving them a four-guard lineup to go along with 6-9 forward Basheer Jihad.

Arizona 67, ASU 55, 15:37 left: The Wildcats go on a 6-0 run to open up a 12-point lead. Arizona's size is starting to overwhelm the much smaller and severely depleted Sun Devils. Arizona is winning the rebounding battle 26-18 and points in the paint 34-16.

Arizona 61, ASU 55, 17:00 left: The Sun Devils are still in this game. I have no idea how.

HALFTIME STATS: ARIZONA 55, ASU 47

The good news for Arizona is they are dominating the paint and on pace to score 110 points. The bad news is they committed 10 fouls and allowed Arizona State to shoot 7-of-12 from the 3-point line.

The Sun Devils are down to just five scholarship players and can't afford to get into foul trouble. Because of that, they are allowing straight-line drives and easy buckets around the hoop. Arizona is outscoring ASU 32-14 in the paint and is shooting 56.8% from the field (21-of-37). Caleb Love leads Arizona with 13 points and Henri Veesaar and Tobe Awaka have eight apiece.

Alston Mason leads Arizona State with 15 points and Shawn Phillips Jr. has 11 points and 5 rebounds.

FIRST HALF RECAP

Arizona 55, ASU 47, halftime: This is like a pickup game at the YMCA on the defensive end.

Jaden Bradley technical foul: Arizona's junior guard gets called for a technical foul after arguing over a no-call. The refs aren't messing around tonight.

Arizona 44, ASU 35, 4:21 left: Caleb Love has hit 3-of-5 from downtown and leads all scorers with 11 points. More importantly, Arizona has 28 points in the paint and is on track to score more than 100 points vs. a depleted ASU team.

Bobby Hurley technical foul: Arizona State's coach picks up a technical foul with 9:34 left for complaining about a missed traveling call. Arizona leads 28-21.

Adam Miller injured: Arizona State senior guard Adam Miller tried to play through a hip pointer, but only lasted 28 seconds. He will not return to the game, leaving Bobby Hurley with just five scholarship players.

Arizona cold again: The Wildcats are just 1-of-5 from downtown to start the game, which is allowing Arizona State to stay close. The Sun Devils have drilled 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Arizona leads 19-16 with 11:56 left.

Arizona 13, ASU 10, 15:07 left: Tobe Awaka is pounding the Sun Devils in the paint in the early going. Awaka has 6 points and 2 rebounds. Trey Townsend drilled a 3-pointer for Arizona, which is a good sign.

PREGAME UPDATES

Because the Auburn-Texas A&M game is running long, the Arizona-Arizona State game has been moved from ESPN to ESPNews for the start of the game. It will switch to ESPN once the Auburn game is over.

More Arizona & Big 12 Analysis

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Ben Sherman
BEN SHERMAN

Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.

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