WATCH: Arizona State takes down Arizona with half-court buzzer beater
The Arizona State Sun Devils shocked the Arizona Wildcats at home on Saturday, following a buzzer beater from well over the half-court line. With less than three seconds on the clock, Arizona State inbounded the ball off a made free throw with a two-point deficit. Desmond Cambridge Jr took the ball up to about three-quarters court and planted his feet for a final heave — sinking the shot and stealing the road win in a big Pac-12 showdown.
Arizona State wins off buzzer beater
The final minutes of the game were hard fought throughout the closing stretch, with the Wildcats holding an eight-point lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game. The Sun Devils battled back to take an 84-83 lead with 1:49 left on the clock, and the teams traded leads down the stretch until what seemed to be the final possession of the game for the Sun Devils while trailing by a point.
Arizona State had a great look at the basket with a three-point try by DJ Horne with four seconds left, but the shot missed and was rebounded by Arizona’s Oumar Ballo. Ballo was fouled after the rebound and the game appeared to be nearly wrapped up — only for Ballo to miss the first of his two free throws. Ballo sunk the second shot to make it a two-point lead, but the door was left open for a game-winner instead of overtime on a make.
Cambridge drilled the resulting shot and No. 7 Arizona received their fifth conference loss of the season, with all five being Pac-12 opponents. Arizona State improved to 11-7 in conference play with the win, putting them a full game over Utah in the standings for fourth place.
The only thing that could have made the feeling of a game-winning shot on the road against a top-ten team might be the contract bonus it unlocked for his coach. The win over the Wildcats gave Arizona State their 20th win of the season — earning coach Bobby Hurley a $25,000 bonus in his contract for winning 20 games for the season.