Arizona State Sweeps Oregon for First Time Since 2011 in Dominant 81-57 Win

First Half

ASU guard Marreon Jackson was a man on a mission to start this match-up, coming off the bench and lighting up the scoreboard. The grad senior knocked down two three-pointers in three minutes to give his squad an 8-3 lead.

But the Ducks settled into the game quickly. Quincy Guerrier and Will Richardson converted on and-1 opportunities to tie the game up at 8-8 after four minutes of play.

Both teams went ice cold in the middle of the first. The Ducks and Sun Devils missed seven straight shots before Rivaldo Soares hit a layup to give the Ducks a 10-9 lead with 12:55 left.

But Jackson just couldn’t miss. He connected on all of his first six field goals, with five of those shots coming from downtown. His quick release gave Ducks defenders fits, as he fueled his team to a 24-18 lead.

Oregon center Nathan Bittle made his presence felt off the bench in a rare first-half appearance with Franck Kepnang in early foul trouble. The former five-star recruit knocked down two free throws, took a charge, then threw down a lob from Jacob Young in consecutive possessions.

But Sun Devils’ starting forward Kimani Lawrence got back-to-back fastbreak buckets to kickstart a quick 6-0 run, extending the ASU lead to eight.

ASU’s defense did a great job of bringing extra help and clogging the lanes as the Sun Devils finished the first half up 36-30.

Jackson contributed 16 points for ASU on 6-7 shooting and 4-5 from downtown. Eric Williams Jr. had eight points, but the Ducks shot horrendously from the field in the first: 34.4% on field goals, and 1-12 on three-pointers.

Alonzo Gaffney

Dana Altman

Second Half

DJ Horne and Jalen Graham scored a few mid-range baskets to help ASU sprint out of the gates with a 6-0 run and the largest lead of the game at 42-30. Dana Altman had no choice but to burn a timeout less than two minutes into the second.

The Ducks weren’t helping themselves either. They turned the ball over three times in less than two minutes, and Kepnang missed his chance to stop the bleeding with a brick right under the bucket.

It just got worse for the Ducks and better for the Sun Devils as time ticked away. ASU had three players in double-figures six minutes into the second; Oregon had none.

After the Sun Devils took a 19-point lead, Oregon chipped away at the deficit thanks to some sloppy play from ASU. In two minutes, Oregon forced four turnovers and scored eight unanswered points.

Just as quick as they slowed down, the Sun Devils got right back to dominating. The ASU crowd went nuts after back-to-back dunks en route to the lead ballooning to 20, and Coach Bobby Hurley loved every second of it.

Lawrence, Horne and Graham took the Devils to even higher heights in the second half, outscoring Oregon 38-27 on their own, including a deep three from the top of the key from Graham with 3:40 left — his first made triple of the season on his 15th attempt.

The game was all but over halfway through the second half, and basketball great Bill Walton recommended some “serious soul searching” for the Ducks.

ASU completed the sweep over Oregon as the game ended at 81-57. The Sun Devils finished with four players scoring at least 16 points, while Richardson led the Ducks in points with 12.

In a game that Oregon absolutely had to win ahead of a five-game stretch against teams with winning records, the Ducks suffer a 24-point loss to 9-15 Arizona State, shooting just 34.5% from the field and 5-26 from three in the process. Next, the Ducks head to Tucson on Saturday for a nationally televised bout with No. 3 Arizona.

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