Arizona State basketball just picked up its biggest win of the season, beating a top-15 Oregon team at home.
Arizona State Basketball went into Thursday night as a home underdog against #14 Oregon but certainly didn’t look the part. They never trailed in the game and jumped out to an 11 point lead by halftime before holding on in the second half to claim a 77-72 win.
This game wasn’t played in the manner either team expected. Both teams are led by talented, experienced point guards in Remy Martin and Payton Pritchard, but both players struggled to leave their mark on this game.
Pritchard scored the first basket of the game for the Ducks but didn’t score again until there were only 13 minutes left in the game. He also only registered 1 assist in the game. He did manage to get hot for a stretch of the second half to get the Ducks back in the game but would put an end to their comeback with an unnecessary 5th foul with 2:15 left.
Martin was never really able to find his rhythm in this game and the two shots to the face that bloodied him up in the first half certainly didn’t help his cause. He ended the game with 11 points and 5 assists, which is a respectable line, but still one that required his teammates to pick up the slack.
It was Alonzo Verge and Rob Edwards who would accept that burden as Verge scored 26 points and Edwards scored 24. They were both key factors in this Sun Devil win, especially as ASU held off the comeback attempt from the Ducks late in this game.
The win moved the Sun Devils into a tie for second in the PAC-12 with the University of Arizona. Both Arizona schools are now only a half-game behind Colorado for first in the conference. It should also put ASU firmly in the NCAA tournament field barring an unforeseen collapse.
Here’s what we learned about the Sun Devils in this impressive upset.