Sun Devils fall in close game to its in-state rival

TUCSON – Each basket scored for the host led to an eruption, and the sold-out McKale Memorial Center railed behind the host to force a defensive stand with under 40 seconds to play in the first half. 

The visiting Sun Devils had stayed in a tightly contested road matchup all half, and despite missing the previous two contests, junior guard Bryce Ford stepped into a 3-pointer from beyond 25 feet. 

ASU, the 21.5-point underdogs, led at halftime against the best team in college basketball. 

“I wouldn’t have been mad if we lost,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said post-game.

Lloyd’s team would pull through for a 17th consecutive time this season as the Sun Devils’ lead wouldn’t last due to a dominant second half from No.1 Arizona (17-0, 4-0 Big 12), leading to an eventual 89-82 loss against Arizona State (10-7, 1-3). 

“They really look like they’re a team that can go the distance,” Hurley said on Arizona’s play this season. “We still have 14 league games, if we can bottle some of what we did tonight and try and do that game in and game out we have a chance to win some games.”

It was senior guard Jaden Bradley, a longtime mercenary of Lloyd, Bradley’s been a Wildcat since 2023 and the experienced guard called game on Wednesday night. Bradley found a matchup he liked in sophomore guard Noah Meeusen and elevated at the elbow for a midrange jump shot, putting his side up four with 27 seconds to play. 

“I’ve always been a fan of his,” Hurley noted on Bradley. “He makes big shots at big times that pull up was a huge shot at that point in the game.”

Bradley wasn’t the only player who created crucial plays, ASU guard, senior Moe Odum was unconscious in the second half, despite shooting 2-of-10 in the first period, he scored 18 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the field in the second half, finishing with a team high 23. 

Odum’s tantalizing play was backed up by timely shot-making from his teammates. The Sun Devils shot a measly 3-of-22 from 3-point range in their 87-84 victory against Kansas State last Saturday; however, they felt at home in the hostile environment of Tucson, shooting 11-of-25 as a team. 

“I’m happy that we, to a degree, snapped out of it,” Hurley mentioned on the improvement in 3-point shooting. “Adding Bryce Ford back into the lineup helps that. [Andrija Grbovic] was struggling the last couple of games shooting it, happy to see him make shots.”

Flipping the switch from the outside was calibrated by Meeusen, who, despite shooting 2-of-20 from the field in three conference games, was lights out on Wednesday, knocking down 4-of-5 shots, all of which came from beyond the arc. 

Meeusen and Odum would lead ASU to hit seven more 3-pointers than Arizona, yet the interior presence of the host was unmatched in spite of a 16-point performance from freshman center Massamba Diop. 

“As good as he’s been on defense and makes a lot of winning plays, he hasn’t shot it like I think he’s capable of,” Hurley mentioned regarding Meeusen’s 3-point shooting. “I can see him making shots in practice leading into this game that said ‘hey maybe he’s going to have a breakout game’ and he made some big shots in big moments.”

Freshman forward Koa Peat, a Chandler native who played his high school basketball at Perry in Gilbert, exhibited his unquestionable talents that’ve made him a top prospect for the 2026 NBA draft. Peat scored 24 points, shooting 9-of-15 from the floor, while collecting a game-high 10 rebounds. 

Peat’s utilizes all of his 6-foot-8, 235-pound frame to muscle over defenders and finish at the basket. What makes Peat so effective is a combination of size, athleticism, and touch, which allows him to glide over his opponents and draw fouls whilst finishing in a variety of ways. 

“[Peat] is physical, he has a great feel for the game,” Hurley rattled off compliments regarding the freshman. “He had to try and help our front court, our pick up point with him wasn’t always ideal, and we allowed him to get a head of stream coming at us a couple times, and that’s where if you let him get a head of stream and get his shoulder in to you and elevate he’s a tough guy to stop.”

The combination of Peat and 6-foot-8 forward Tobe Awaka turned into a matchup nightmare for Hurley. Awaka scored 25 points off the bench, leading all scorers, shooting 8-of-11 from the field. Perhaps more necessary than the points he accounted for, Awaka drew fouls on a thin Sun Devils front court, causing graduate forward Allen Mukeba to foul out and Diop to collect four as well. 

You can wear people down sometimes with your speed and guys getting up and down the floor, they have a unique ability with their roster to wear teams down inside,” Hurley said.” The size and the physicality of their front line is different to probably anything we’ve seen this year.

“I thought our guys battled and tried really hard to hang in there in the paint, but they’re very good at positioning and sealing and getting angles. They got some really talented players in the front court, especially.” 

A defeat in Tucson is never viewed as a positive, particularly for Hurley, who now falls to 2-9 at McKale Center in his 11-year tenure at the helm of ASU; however, his team played the nation’s premier program in a nail-biting contest, a feat even the defending national champions couldn’t overcome. 

“It’s us against the world, that’s how we felt,” Odum admitted. “When we walked out, they booed us; when they walked in, they booed us.

“We either gotta do it together, or we’re not going ot be able to do it at all.” 

The task for the Sun Devils now is to repeat a showing that few could’ve predicted. An upcoming matchup on the road against No.7 Houston on Sunday won’t afford any ease compared to Arizona; however, the weeks that follow provide conference contests in which Hurley and the program will be circling, because if they replicate their effectiveness and execution on both sides of the ball, they can win a lot of games in the Big 12. 

“We gotta treat every game like it’s the same game,” Odum noted. “Not just because it’s the number one team in the country but because we’re in the Big 12 and every game is a guantlet and everygame is a hard game. We just gotta treat everyone like it’s a hard game and not take our foot off the pedal.”