Junior forward Savon Goodman's return to the lineup was spoiled by Arizona as the No. 8 Wildcats (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12) defeated ASU men's basketball (10-4, 0-1 Pac-12).
He received limited minutes and was in foul trouble. Additionally, senior forward Eric Jacobsen had been limited in practice this week after being bothered by a sprained ankle. Both played for less than 20 minutes as ASU looked for valuable contributions from others on the roster to help slow the Arizona attack.
Sophomore guard Tra Holder, coming off a career high 23 points against CSU Bakersfield, picked up where he left off accumulating eight points, one assist and one rebound in the first half. He and Oleka led the charge, each scoring eight points. Oleka made all three of his shots, including a three-pointer.
At the halfway mark, Arizona held the 41-35 edge over ASU.
One of the main priorities on the Sun Devils list was containing Arizona centers, sophomore Dusan Rustic and senior Kaleb Tarczewski. With Jacobsen, ASU's only contributor taller than six-foot seven-inches, receiving limited minutes, Rustic and Tarczewski combined for 18 points and nine rebounds.
Arizona senior guard Gabe York caught fire in the second half. In a four-possession span, he knocked down two threes and a long two-point jumper to increase the Wildcat lead to 16 as time began winding down.
Tensions ran high, both on the court and in the stands.
Five minutes into the second half, U of A Center Kaleb Tarczewski was called for a non-shooting foul as he got tangled up with an ASU player. Visibly displeased, he received a technical foul and was relegated to the bench. This was the first technical of three called during the second half.
The others came against ASU head coach Bobby Hurley. He was ejected with 59.6 seconds left in the game.
Senior forward Willie Atwood said the team appreciates his intensity.
“He fights hard for us,” Atwood said. “We try to get the fire from him because he really fights for us hard and we play hard for him.”
Atwood had 14 points (shooting 5-6 from the charity stripe) and hauled in five rebounds.
ASU was able to climb back late,
The Sun Devil's late climb back was spearheaded by defensive intensity and key passes to open shooters. They cut the deficit to six, but the comeback simmered down after some unnecessary fouls and timely shooting by the Wildcats, squashing the hopes of the ASU players and fans.
The 15-point lead ended up being too much for the Sun Devils to claw back from, as the last buzzer sounded the score read 94-82 in favor of the Arizona Wildcats. York finished with 22 points and Arizona freshman guard Allonzo Trier scored 20.
Holder broke his single-game record by scoring 24 points, and Oleka scored 17 on 6-7 shooting.
Senior guard Gerry Blakes had 12 points and five rebounds.
“We fought hard,” Blakes said. “We just came up short today.”
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