Felipe Corral

The State Press

Sports Reporter

Arizona prevails on the road over rival ASU

Allonzo Trier had 19 points and the Arizona Wildcats celebrated the
mens basketball Pac-12 regular season title (co-champions) with a 73-
60 win over rival ASU on Saturday, March 4th.

I thought we were in the game in the first half, ASU head coach
Bobby Hurley said. Our defense was fairly consistent throughout the
entire game, minus some breakdown(s) in the second half.

The Sun Devils (14-17, 7-11 in Pac-12) went into halftime down by one,
30-29, which the first half was highlighted by a pair of runs that shrunk
Arizona's lead and physical play on both ends of the court.

Arizona led early 16-7, but ASU went on a 10-2 run, which cut the lead
to one with eight minutes left in the first half. Kodi Justice hit a three
pointer off an assist from Shannon Evans II to help gain momentum.
Justice led the team in scoring during the first half with eight points
and finished with a team high 17 points.

The Wildcats extended their lead once again; going up 24-17 before
another ASU run friction. The Sun Devils took the first lead of the
game, 26-25, after a 9-1 run with 3:42 left in the first half. Evans and
Tra Holder anchored the run by making a three of their own.

ASU and Arizona were plagued by foul trouble in the first half forward
Lauri Markkanen picked up two early fouls and the Sun Devils went into
the double bonus before the half ended. It echoed the physical play
being displayed by both teams, which is mostly due to the heated
rivalry between the two teams.

After an even first half, the Wildcats heated up to begin the second
half; going on a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 11. This was the
narrative for the rest of the half, as ASU was unable to find its
defensive discipline for the remainder of the game.

I feel like as a team we played as well as we could on offense, ASU

guard Toriah Graham said. I just dont think we did enough on
defense."
Head coach Sean Miller's squad took advantage of multiple
mismatches his big men created against the smaller Sun Devils.
Arizona out-rebounded ASU offensively and dominated off of second
chance points. Mismatches have been a growing trend for the Sun
Devils due to their lack of depth at the forward and center positions.

They are a really good defensive team, Justice said. They are long
and active and all over the place defensively."

Trier and Markkanen led the Wildcats, as they combined for 29 points.
Trier led the game in scoring by dropping 19 points, while Markkanen
found his rhythm in the second half to come up with 11 points and nine
rebounds. Both players continue to raise their draft stock heading into
the postseason.

Another notable performance comes from guard Rawls Alkins - he had

a double-double (11 pts., 15 reb.) Arizona improved to 27-4 on the
season and 16-2 in the PAC-12.