Arizona State will attempt to earn its first home victory over rival Arizona in five seasons when the programs clash Saturday afternoon in their first matchup as Big 12 opponents.
The Sun Devils (12-8, 3-6 Big 12) last earned a victory over Arizona (14-6, 8-1) in Tempe, Ariz., in January 2020.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley is 2-7 against the Wildcats at home and 4-15 overall against the program’s archrivals since his hire in 2015-16.
Hurley believes Arizona State’s difficult schedule, that has included 12 games away from Tempe as opposed to eight games at home, will help his team be mentally prepared against Arizona. The Sun Devils are 7-5 away from their home arena.
The Wildcats have struggled away from home this season with a 4-5 record, that includes a 3-2 mark in true road games and 1-3 in neutral-site games.
“We played a lot of hard games on the road already in the Big 12 and nonconference neutral sites,” Hurley said. “These guys are learning to fight together.”
Arizona State won at Colorado 70-68 on Tuesday despite playing mostly a six-player rotation with Jayden Quaintance staying home with an ankle injury and BJ Freeman departing with a deep thigh bruise after playing four minutes.
Adam Miller and Alston Mason played 39 minutes each and led the team with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
The availability of Quaintance and Freeman against Arizona is undetermined.
Arizona’s most recent game was Monday when Caleb Love made a 55-foot shot at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime against No. 3 Iowa State.
The Wildcats scored the last 11 points in the extra period to beat the visiting Cyclones 86-75. Love was 1 for 10 from 3-point range before hitting from beyond half court.
He then hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in overtime, while Carter Bryant added another shout from beyond the arc to cap Arizona’s first win at home over a top-5 opponent as an unranked team since beating No. 3 UCLA in 1979.
“Caleb did a great job,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, who is 6-1 against Arizona State, including 3-0 at Tempe.
“I love that kid. I’m here with it. I’m here for him. That’s my job. My job is not to run away from the players that I’ve helped choose to be part of this program.”
–Field Level Media
