The Sun Devils, in a valiant effort, forced the Wildcats into a close, competitive game, but ultimately fell short in the hone finale
TEMPE, Ariz. — Often how the big brother, little brother relationship goes, the older brother is stronger, faster, better. The elder one taunts and maybe gives a sense of hope, just to rip it away. The sixth-ranked Arizona Wildcats are the bigger brother, and despite the heart and fight in Arizona State, it just wasn’t enough to overcome the difference between the two.
Hosting its season home finale, Arizona State (14-15, 8-10 Pac-12) had a prime look at playing upset in back-to-back games with a crowd of 14,129 in added support, but Arizona (22-6, 13-4 Pac-12) took care of business, 85-67, and completed the season sweep.
“Arizona is better than we are right now,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said bluntly. In nine years at the helm in Tempe, he dubbed this years version of the Wildcats the “best” he’s faced. “[Arizona’s] a very loaded team that as a chance to do a lot of damage the rest of the way.”
While Arizona has its grasp on the top seed in March, the only way Arizona State can dance is by willing its way to a Pac-12 Championship. And that entails a third meeting with the Wildcats.
For now, the taste of defeat is sour. Arizona not only stole the show in the home season finale, but senior night where four Sun Devils were honored.
“I know we’re all disappointed,” Hurley said. “We just lost to Arizona…But we might need a dose of reality and realize Arizona is really good. Our players have competed through a lot of adversity this year and they haven’t quit.”
The lead stretched to as many as 18 and shrunk to as few as five, but the hole the Sun Devils placed themselves in early was too much to over come — at least against a top-seeded program with National Championship aspirations.
Arizona guard Caleb Love displayed a warm welcome to the Desert Financial Arena crowd, flashing an upside down pitchfork after dishing an early trey while guard Pelle Larsson shared words to the student section during the second half effort. The Wildcats stormed to an early 18-6 lead and led by 14 at half, but Arizona State clawed back.
“I thought they had opportunities to back out of this game and they didn’t,” Hurley said. “Although we’re not having a fantastic season, I mean, there are teams that are frickin’ brutal, they just stink and they’ve given up and they don’t compete. And that’s not what your team is doing.”
No stranger to deficits, Arizona State muscled its way back out of half with an 8-0 run and with the score on the verge of one possession with eight minutes remaining, the Wildcats tightened their grasp. An aired three attempt by Frankie Collins led to a transition slam to propel Arizona to an 18-point victory, although the game was much tighter than the final score may have indicated.
Sophomore guard Adam Miller led with a team-high 16 points. Frankie Collins logged 15 of his own, Jose Perez added 14 and Jamiya Neal provided 12. Thirty-five percent from the field did not do the Sun Devils any favors, either.
The hearty effort by Hurley’s squad was lightyears better than the trip to McKale Center two weeks ago. Arizona State clipped 72 percent from the stripe and held its rival to 18 attempts (32 in first meeting).
The Sun Devils better controlled the paint, a point of emphasis after surrendering 45 in Tucson. In the paint on Wednesday night, Arizona only managed 16 points.
“Quality of performance we put out last time was a bad day all around,” Miller said. “They came out the same way they did last game. We wanted to win today more than we did that day. We tried to play our heart out for them (seniors) tonight. The respect I have for those guys is very high.”
Miller, taking no moral victories, applauded his team’s effort, but takes took no pleasure in the hands of defeat.
Should the two programs clash for a third time in the Pac-12 Tournament, Miller has “no doubt” Arizona State has what it takes to win. But for now, it’s onto USC and UCLA.