Wednesday marked the first game this season against in-state rival Arizona State for No. 1 Arizona, which was trying to remain undefeated. After a sloppy first half, the Wildcats were able to straighten things out, which led to an 89-82 win over the Sun Devils.
Heading into the game, Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley commented on how hard it is to play against Arizona (17-0, 4-0 Big 12) in McKale Center.
“Anytime you were to tell me I’m like 2-8 somewhere, I’m not thinking it’s that good,” said Hurley during his weekly press conference. “But with that team in that building in that place and how many people have won there over the years and the record that Arizona has on that floor, it’s not too bad.”
Following the loss to Arizona, Hurley drops to 4-18 all-time against the Wildcats in his 11 years as the Sun Devils head coach.
More importantly, Arizona was able to overcome first half struggles and saw freshman forward Koa Peat step up in the second half. Peat finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds marking his fourth double-double of the season.
With the game in the books, we at All Sports Tucson have come up with our three takeaways from Arizona’s win over Arizona State (10-7, 1-3).
3-Point Defense
So far this season, Arizona has been allowing teams to shoot 32% from the 3-point line, which is 104th in the nation. Against Arizona State, the Wildcats allowed the Sun Devils to hit 11 shots from deep while shooting 44% from beyond the arc.
Every time it looked like Arizona was about to go on a run, the Sun Devils would hit a 3-point shot to cut into the lead, or stop the bleeding.
“I’ll tell you what. No. 5 is a tough player. When you’re allowed to take 24 shots and you’re a little jitter bug and you can split ball screens and pass under pressure,” said Tommy Lloyd on guard Maurice Odum. “I mean, you’re a hard guard, you know, you’re a hard guard.”
Odum hit four of the Sun Devils’ 3-point shots and managed to keep his team in the game.
Koa Peat Dominates in Second Half
Like most freshmen in the country, Peat has had highs and lows as he continues to grow his game and figure out the college level. After opening up his collegiate career with a 30-point performance against Florida, the expectations are high for the young superstar.
In the first half against Arizona State, Peat struggled at times to find his footing and shot 2 -for-8 from the field with eight points. Still, he was able to figure things out in the second half and finished the night with 24 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 9 of 15 from the field.
“We asked him to do a lot today. He played 34 minutes and was obviously cramping up a little at the end,” said Lloyd.
“So, part of that was due to some foul trouble Mo (Motiejus Krivas) got in the second half. And then we ended up with a lineup that I just felt like we were in position to close the game.”
So far this season, Peat is shooting 57% from the field and is averaging 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists, making him one of the top freshmen in the nation.
The Closer
It doesn’t matter where the game is played, who the opponent is, or if he has been playing at a high-level from the opening tip, Arizona’s “closer” is without a doubt Jaden Bradley.
Against Arizona Stste, Bradley struggled in the first half with just four points and only took five shots. However, he was able to turn it up in the crunch time of the game and finished with 12 points while hitting the game-sealing mid-range jumper to give UA the 87-82 lead with 27 seconds remaining.
Bradley has been the player to secure win after win for the Wildcats in every single one of the close game this season. He has become Arizona’s 9th inning closer and might be the most underrated player in college basketball.
Arizona will now hit the road to take on Central Florida (14-2, 3-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. with the game being televised on ESPN.
Recommended for you
