Arizona Basketball Downs Arizona State In 249th Territorial Cup Game: 4 Takeaways

Arizona basketball beat Arizona State 81-72 to take its fourth consecutive Territorial Cup game on Saturday afternoon.

No love was lost in this matchup, and meeting No. 249 was no different. Neither team led by double digits, and as the teams traded blows, so did the fans (verbally) in another “home-neutral” game at Desert Financial Arena.

In true rivalry fashion, technical fouls accumulated, with Arizona basketball’s fifth-year guard Caleb Love and Arizona State basketball’s senior guard/forward BJ Freeman being ejected with around 30 seconds remaining. Both teams did not shake hands after the game.

“You can’t lose four (home) conference games at this point in the season in the Big 12 race and expect to be in the (NCAA tournament) picture,” Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley said after the loss. “We just haven’t done a good job. A lot of these games have been close. We’ve been there. Moral victories? Who cares.”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Takeaway #1: Love embraces villain role in Tempe

All eyes were on Caleb Love going into the game. Arizona basketball’s leading scorer was coming off a 22-point performance against No. 3 Iowa State including a half-court buzzer beater.

While the Sun Devils limited him to two points in the first 14 minutes, Love found a spark with 18 points in the second half. Known for his maximal shot-taking, he went 5-for-10 from the field, 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He converted a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 51-49 lead before tacking on another triple, to solidify the visitors’ edge until the end of the game.

Love finished with 27 points, and ledt the Arizona State bench know after every big play. He would hit the “Forks down” celebration after some big plays and would approach the bench heading into media timeouts. His behavior factored into Hurley’s decision to not shake hands with the opposition.

“It was constant, relentless chatter from a couple of the Arizona players that was not being policed properly,” Hurley said about the ejections. “They’re gonna be happy with winning, but it was done with no class in my opinion.”

“I can tell you this. I do get a vote for all-conference and I can tell you who’s not getting a vote,” Hurley said to wrap up his press conference.

No Love lost.

Takeaway #2: Sun Devils continue to struggle down the stretch

In each of the past three games, the Maroon and Gold have struggled in the second half. They were up by five against Iowa State before succumbing to a 19-3 run in the final minutes. They nearly squandered a 12-point lead against Colorado if it was not for poor shot selection from the Buffaloes down the stretch.

The same happened on Saturday afternoon, with Arizona basketball outscoring Arizona State 39-25 over the final 16 minutes.

“People watch the game, they go to the bathroom, and they come back and it’s like ‘damn, Arizona State’s down,” redshirt senior guard Adam Miller said. “We gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”

While Miller played efficiently himself, some of his teammates did not. Senior forward Basheer Jihad, despite finishing with 14 points, took 17 shots, including seven three-point attempts. While starting the season with a few triple tries, it is not a feature in his game. Jihad went back to his staple–driving to the rack–in the final minutes to no avail.

Freeman, despite leading the Sun Devils with 19 points, went 7-for-17 from the field, and 4-for-10 from three-point land. At times, he did not completely line up for a shot, causing it to fall wide.

Arizona State must learn to stay ahead down the stretch to get into the NCAA tournament.

Takeaway #3: Arizona basketball plays sloppy

The trip back to Tucson will be sweet for the Wildcats. It is their fourth consecutive victory over their in-state rival, and they are now 9-1 in their first season in the Big 12.

However, the men from McKale did not shoot the ball well, going 37.1% from the floor and 8-for-24 from beyond the arc (which included going 1-for-10 to start the game). The only spot they succeeded from was the free-throw line, only missing one out of 22 attempts.

14 second chance points helped Arizona basketball, who had 18 offensive rebounds and won the board battle 52-38 against Arizona State. While having to rely on easy buckets, it led to a productive 32 points in the paint, and 30 bench points with the help of redshirt sophomore forward Henri Veesaar, freshman forward Carter Bryant, and sophomore guard KJ Lewis.

Despite offensive struggles hindering the Wildcats early on, their defense also forced 13 turnovers. This included two consecutive takeaways on the full-court press while down 47-42, which led to Lewis posting six consecutive points for his team to restore the lead.

“They got a lot of life over those couple of possessions,” Hurley said. “You can’t do that. You have a team down, you had a really good start to the second half, built a lead, and then give the ball away.”

Takeaway #4: Miller going to evoke senior, Sun Devil leadership to teammates

As Hurley wrapped up his press conference, Adam Miller walked into the media room. As Miller took a seat next to his coach, Hurley said that Miller should be wearing a mask. The only returning starter for Arizona State had not touched a basketball in two days due to illness. But he continued to lead his team with 34 minutes.

Such is the case of this Arizona State basketball team, who went with only a seven-man rotation with freshman forward Jayden Quaintance and Freeman back getting starter minutes. Hurley decided to omit freshman guard/forward Amier Ali against Arizona basketball, who had a career-high 26 minutes against Colorado.

Miller finished the afternoon with 16 points–where he went 5-for-11 from the field–four rebounds and two assists. Not much facilitating anymore for the only returning starter to this squad. Regardless, he flew around the court to grab rebounds and keep possession. His hope now? Trying to get his teammates to match that urgency.

“I’m at a point in my career where I gotta be able to win and lead, you know what I’m saying, because I’m older now,” Miller said. “In my college career, I’ve had great coaches and great leaders…I’m gonna sit my teammates down, and we’re gonna have a (players-only) meeting…The same thing I said to y’all, I’m gonna say to them.”

Up next for Arizona basketball (15-6, 9-1): at BYU (14-6, 5-4) – Feb. 4 at 11 p.m. EST

Up next for Arizona State basketball (12-9, 3-7): vs. Kansas State (10-11, 4-6) – Feb. 4 at 10 p.m. EST