Game Recap: Arizona State Completes Sweep of Oregon in 81-57 Victory
After a short break, the Arizona State Sun Devils were back in action Thursday night in special "Honoring Black Excellence" uniforms.
On deck were the Oregon Ducks, who strolled into Desert Financial Arena having won five of their last six games.
A loss for the Ducks would greatly impact their ability to make the NCAA tournament, with ESPN's Joe Lunardi projecting the Ducks to narrowly miss the big dance as of now.
Arizona State ensured the conversations surrounding Oregon became more difficult after thoroughly defeating the Ducks in what may have been their best effort of the season.
Here's how the action panned out in one of ASU's best wins of the year:
First-Half Recap
Starters
G DJ Horne
G Jay Heath
F Kimani Lawrence
F Jalen Graham
F Alonzo Gaffney
The Sun Devils were able to jump to an early 5-0 lead prior to the Ducks eventually drawing the score even at 8-8 at the first media timeout.
The early star of the show was guard Marreon Jackson, who began the night making his first four three-point attempts.
Three-point shooting hasn't been a strength for Arizona State, yet ASU managed to make five of their first nine from downtown. The Sun Devils led 19-15 at the 9:20 media timeout.
The two squads traded buckets before Arizona State eventually saw their lead extend to a high of eight points. However, Oregon trimmed the deficit to six heading into the break down 36-30.
Arizona State entered the game ranked at the bottom of the Pac-12 in scoring, but shot an astounding 54% from the floor in the first half while the Ducks convert only one of their 13 attempts from three-point land.
Free throws kept Oregon in the game, as the Ducks made all seven of their attempts from the stripe.
Arizona State led for 16:48 of the first half, largely thanks to Jackson's 16 points. His sole miss came on a deep three-point attempt at the buzzer to end the first half.
Second-Half Recap
Arizona State again started quickly out of the gates, sinking its first three shots to begin the second half, establishing a 42-30 lead and forcing Oregon to quickly take a timeout with 18:15 remaining.
The Ducks eventually made their first basket of the second half, but three turnovers in three minutes place Oregon back where it once began, trailing Arizona State 46-33 at the 15:54 media timeout.
At the 11:53 media timeout, ASU continue to hold their lead over Oregon at 56-42 despite turning the ball over three times in under two minutes.
However, Oregon went on an 8-0 run to draw ASU's lead back to 11, propelled by guard Will Richardson's five points.
The Sun Devils answered with their own 8-0 run, with five of those eight points coming via free throws.
ASU extended the lead to 20 points on an emphatic alley-oop from forward Kimani Lawrence.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way for Arizona State, closing out a 81-57 victory for their first Pac-12 sweep of the season.
Stat Leaders
Points: Graham (18)
Rebounds: Graham (9)
Assists: Heath (6)
What's Next
Arizona State will see a quick turnaround time, with the next game coming in a home battle with Oregon State on Saturday, Feb. 19.