Moe Odum Propels Arizona State to Crucial Victory Over Cincinnati

The Sun Devils officially snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday night in what has potential to be a season-salvaging triumph.

Jan 24, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils guard Maurice Odum (5) celebrates with teammate Noah Meeusen (15) against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

TEMPE -- The Arizona State Sun Devils (11-9 , 2-5 Big 12) secured a major triumph in an 82-68 victory against the Cincinnati Bearcats (10-10, 2-5) on Saturday night in Tempe.

The Sun Devils are coming off of a three-game losing streak against Arizona, Houston, and West Virginia, while Cincinnati has started out league play relatively well.

Follow what went down in each half, key performers, and what is ahead on the schedule for the Sun Devils below with Arizona State on SI.

First Half

Head coach Bobby Hurley began the game with the same starting lineup that had previously been place to start the season tonight - Moe Odum, Bryce Ford, Santiago Trouet, Andrija Grbovic, and Massamba Diop.

The Sun Devils got off to a spirited start, as Odum and Grbovic did much of the heavy lifting on what was a strong offensive showing early.

Cincinnati retook the lead on a handful of different occasions over the last 10 minutes of the half, but a corner three from Bryce Ford and three-point play from Noah Meeusen put Arizona State ahead by a score of 33-31 at the 3:50 mark of the period.

Arizona State went into halftime with a 37-33 lead, which was largely driven by several defensive stands at the end of the first period of action.

Jan 24, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first half at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Second Half

The second half started off at a relatively even pace, although the Sun Devils started surging at around the 14-minute mark of the half - building up an 11 point lead behind a three-point knockdown by Grbovic at the official media timeout at the 11:07 mark of the period. A large driving force behind the impressive run was the increasingly effective on-ball pressure that resulted in a high volume of Cincinnati turnovers that resulted in transition points.

A Sencire Harris layup at the 6:50 mark cut the Arizona State lead to just three-points, but two consecutive 25-plus foot jump shot connections by Odum rebuilt the advantage to 70-61 in favor of the Sun Devils in less than a minute.

Odum's heroics continued, and Arizona State was able to withstand Cincinnati in the final minutes of the game.

Key Performers

• Moe Odum - 33 PTS, 8 AST, 3 STL, 6-11 3PTFG

• Anthony "Pig" Johnson - 11 PTS, 3-8 FG

• Massamba Diop - 6 PTS, 10 REB, 4 BLK

What's Next

Arizona State is set to travel to take on the UCF Knights on Tuesday before returning home for a rematch against the Arizona Wildcats on January 31.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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