With a 9 p.m. tip on a weeknight, the last thing anyone wants is a defensive snoozefest. Instead, Arizona and ASU played a game with almost zero defense.
The Wildcats scored their most points in the Territorial Cup since 1998 in a 113-100 win over the Sun Devils in the home finale on Tuesday night at McKale Center. It was the first time both teams scored in triple figures in the rivalry since 1973.
The win guarantees No. 24 Arizona (20-10, 14-5) no worse than third place in the Big 12, which means a double bye into the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. The Wildcats can still earn the No. 2 seed but most likely will be the No. 3 in Kansas City.
Henri Veesaar scored a career-high 22 points, adding eight rebounds and four blocks, while KJ Lewis and Caleb Love had 21 apiece with Lewis tying his career high. Tobe Awaka added 15 points and nine rebounds and Jaden Bradley scored 12 for the Wildcats, which shot shot 59 percent (62.5 percent in the 2nd half) while making 10 3-pointers and 31 of 39 free throws.
Arizona turned it over just six times, one off its season low, and had a plus-10 advantage on the boards. But the defense was far from stellar, allowing ASU to score 100 despite having only six healthy scholarship players.
The Sun Devils shot 46.3 percent and were 12 of 23 from 3, with Alston Mason going 5 of 7 to finish with 33 points.
The 113 points were the most for Arizona against ASU since scoring a school-record 127 in 1998, and this was only the second time both teams reached 100.
Arizona led 55-47 at halftime thanks to 56.8 percent shooting and no turnovers. The Wildcats gave it away for the first time with 18:14 left on a bad interior pass by Love, which ASU converted into a transition 3 by Sanon.
Arizona got the lead up to 71-58 with 14:23 remaining but ASU kept battling, cutting it to 78-72 with 10:17 to go. Fouls started to become an issue for both teams, with two Sun Devils getting their fourth along with Awaka before the 9-minute mark.
Back-to-back Arizona turnovers sparked a 7-0 run for ASU, with Mason draining a 3 to get the Sun Devils within 89-86 with 6:12 left. The UA called timeout, and after the break ran off eight in a row in 96 seconds—fouling out ASU’s Basheer Jihad along the way—to go back up 11.
ASU’s Shawn Phillips Jr. fouled out with 3:59 remaining, and ASU’s bench was hit with a technical during the final media timeout. Arizona made 2 of 4 free throws and then Veesaar hit another 3 to put his team over the century mark with 3:29 left.
A 3-pointer by Lewis with 39 seconds left made it a 13-point game, just enough cushion for Arizona to put in five walk-ons including four seniors.
Arizona jumped out to a 10-2 lead before ASU started hitting shots. The Sun Devils made five of seven with Mason’s layup giving them a 16-15 lead with 13:08 left in the 1st half.
The UA retook the lead quickly and built it up to 33-25 on a Love 3-pointer, which came about a minute after ASU coach Bobby Hurley was hit with a technical. It was his fifth T against Arizona, one more than his victories over the Wildcats.
ASU started 6 of 8 from 3 to keep itself close, and Jihad made three free throws after getting fouled by Trey Townsend on a rip thru, getting the Sun Devils within 40-35, but the UA scored seven in a row to get the lead up to 12.
A technical on Bradley, for arguing a no-call after he made a basket in traffic, allowed ASU to cut it to 49-44 with 1:40 left before halftime. Arizona would score six in a row to get the lead back to double digits before Mason drained a 3 at the buzzer.
Arizona finishes up the regular season Saturday at Kansas, its first trip to Allen Fieldhouse since 2007. The Jayhawks (19-11, 10-9) have lost three home games this season, including to Texas Tech last weekend.