The last time Arizona State faced rival Arizona, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley pulled his team off the court in the final minute after double-technical fouls and ejections were assessed to his side’s BJ Freeman and the Wildcats’ Caleb Love.
No. 24 Arizona (19-10, 13-5 Big 12), which won that heated matchup 81-72 on Feb. 1 in Tempe, hosts the rematch on Tuesday night in Tucson.
Arizona State (13-16, 4-14) no longer has Freeman, who was dismissed from the team last month for conduct detrimental to the team.
Hurley, the topic of conservation among Phoenix-area media about his job status, may soon be gone as well.
The Sun Devils have dropped eight of their past nine games, beginning with the defeat against Arizona.
Injuries and the disciplinary action taken against Freeman and Southern California transfer Brandon Gardner, suspended most of the season for a violation of team rules, have taken a toll.
Hurley’s team lost at Utah 99-73 on Saturday without Jayden Quaintance (knee) and Adam Miller (hip).
“It’s not easy,” Hurley said. “I give our guys a lot of credit, a lot of respect for not mailing it in, not putting their head down or feeling sorry for themselves.
“We have guys playing that haven’t really played much or aren’t in these roles or haven’t been all year. That’s just the circumstances we’re in.”
Joson Sanon, who once committed to Arizona, hit four of five 3-point attempts and finished with a career-high 28 points against the Utes.
Sanon scored 18 in the previous game against BYU but had averaged just five points in the four preceding contests. He missed five out of eight games because of a sprained ankle during one stretch early in the conference schedule.
Arizona has lost four of its past six games, including an 84-67 defeat at then-No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd liked how his team battled after trailing by 24 in the second half against the Cyclones.
The Wildcats got as close as nine with 3:03 left.
“I’m really proud of our guys for battling back,” Lloyd said. “That could have been a 30-piece right there, and our guys hung with it. We got pride. We’re here for it, and we’re on to the next one.”
Arizona’s season-long problem of perimeter shooting continued, as the Wildcats made just 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Through the weekend, Arizona ranked No. 311 in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage at 31.2 percent.
Love has struggled all season, making 30.8 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. He was 2 of 10 from 3-point range against Iowa State and 2 of 15 overall from the field.
“We’re not the best 3-point shooting team you’ve ever seen,” Lloyd said. “This is not the 2017 Golden State Warriors. We’re a gritty team and it’s a little bit ugly sometimes, but that’s just how we ended up being built. We’ve won a lot of games doing that.”
Anthony Dell’Orso, a transfer from Campbell, is Arizona’s best 3-point shooter at 40.4 percent (40 of 99).
–Field Level Media
