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Men’s Hoops Downs the Ducks, Improve Historic Pac-12 Start

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Men’s Hoops Downs the Ducks, Improve Historic Pac-12 Start


EUGENE, Ore. – The Arizona State men’s basketball team is 5-1 in conference play for the first time since 1980-81, just the second year of Pac-12 membership, after earning a 90-73 road victory against the Oregon Ducks.

 

Desmond Cambridge Jr. paced all scorers with 21 points, his third time with at least 20 points this season. He combined with brother Devan (14) for 35 points, their second highest tally of the season.

 

On top of ASU’s 5-1 Pac-12 start, the Sun Devils have 14 wins in its first 17 games. It is the fourth time since the 1975-76 season that ASU has had at least 14 wins at this point in the season and just the second time under Bobby Hurley that ASU is 14-3. 

 

Arizona State (14-3, 5-1) also has won its first two road games in league play for the first time since 1991-92.

 

KEY MOMENTS

  • Leading by three, 14-11, the Sun Devils went on a 23-5 scoring advantage over 7:25 from 14:09-6:44 in the first half and led 37-16.

  • The Sun Devils went on a 10-2 run to start the second half and extended their lead to 56-32 with 7:06 to play.

NOTABLES

  • ASU has 14 wins in its first 17 games. The Sun Devils were also 14-3 in 2017-18 and it is the fourth time since the 1975-76 season that ASU has had at least 14 wins.

    • It is the second time under Bobby Hurley that ASU is 14-3.

  • The Sun Devils are 5-1 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 1980-81 season.

  • The win marked ASU’s first time winning consecutive games at Oregon since three straight seasons from 2008-09 – 2010-11.

  • ASU shot 52.4% from the floor and are 41-3 under Bobby Hurley and 3-0 this season when shooting 50% or better.

  • In the NCAA’s quadrant system, losses outside of Quad 1 are highly detrimental to at-large candidacies. ASU is tied for third in the Pac-12 for fewest losses outside of the top quadrant with two.

  • With the win, Arizona State is now in second in the Pac-12 with three quadrant one wins (Arizona, 5).

  • Since the start of the Pac-12 era (2011-12), Oregon entered tonight’s contest with the second highest winning percentage of any team in the league (86.8%)

  • Arizona State has won their first two true-road games in league play for the first time since 1991-92, a road sweep of the Washington schools.

  • Desmond Cambridge Jr. is +50 in six league play games this season after a +17 tally against Oregon. 

  • Warren Washington was a game-high +26 against the Ducks.

  • Washington entered the game third in the Pac-12 shooting 65.5%. He was a perfect 3-3 on the night.

  • Washington also had two blocks, the most for the Sun Devils on the night. It is the 16th straight game the seven-footer has tied or paced ASU’s blocking effort. 

  • Devan Cambridge scored 14 points and ASU is 9-0 when he scores in double figures.

  • Arizona State is 10-0 this season when scoring at least 70 points.

  • DJ Horne’s 15 points marked his 10th time this season in double figures this season. 

  • Despite shooting 52.4% from the floor, ASU snatched 11 offensive rebounds against the Ducks. The Sun Devils entered with the Pac-12 lead in offensive rebounds per game at 11.7.

  • In fact, it is the ninth time under coach Hurley that ASU has shot at least 50% from the floor in a road Pac-12 game.

  • Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Devan Cambridge combined for 35 points, their second most in a game this season (36, San Diego).

    • In fact, the Cambridge brothers scored the first 10 Sun Devil points, five each.

  • Desmond Cambridge Jr. has now led ASU in scoring in five games this season, the most of any Sun Devil.

  • The Sun Devils have had five games with at least assists in its first 17 games this season. It’s the most games with 20+ assists in the first 18 games of the season since at least 2009-10. The Sun Devils have had four such games through 17 games of the season since the 2018-19 season. They had 20 against Oregon.

  • Duke Brennan grabbed two offensive rebounds in 10 minutes on the floor. He entered the contest with an offensive rebounding percentage of 15.6 (24 ORB/41 TRB). The qualified Pac-12 leader in offensive rebounding percentage was Mouhamed Gueye (WSU) at 13.6%. ASU’s qualified leader was Warren Washington at 10.1%. 

  • Arizona State has outscored their opponent in the paint 15 times in 17 games this season, including a 36-32 margin against the Ducks.  

  • ASU is outscoring opponents by 39 points in the paint in league play. 

    • In fact, ASU has scored exactly 42% of their points this season from inside the paint (524/1,245). 

  • ASU is +15 in steals in conference games this season. 

  • Frankie Collins dished eight assists, tied for his second most of the season (11, San Diego, 8, Texas Southern). He has tied or outright paced ASU’s assist category in 14 of the 16 games he’s played in this season.

  • DJ Horne hit four three pointers, tied for his season best. It was the second consecutive game he has hit four treys and third time this season.

  • ASU’s 13 made three points were their second most of the season (14, San Diego) and by far their most in league play (Washington, 9)

  • The Sun Devils scored 90 points, their most in a league game this season and second highest tally overall this season.

  • ASU’s most points in the first half (47) of a conference game since 49 vs Washington on February 23rd, 2021.

  • In fact, it’s also the most road first half points for the Sun Devils since 47 at Utah on February 16, 2019.

  • ASU’s 19 first half field goals ties a season high for first halves (Washington).

  • The Sun Devils shot 55.9% from the floor. It is the third best mark of the season in any half.

  • ASU’s eight threes tie a season high in the first half (Michigan).

  • Through 17 games this season, opposing guards are shooting 37% against ASU in conference play and 34% for the season against the Sun Devil defense. 

  • Guards are averaging 8.1 turnovers per game against the Sun Devils in conference play. 

FIRST HALF

Arizona State won the tip and Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a layup on the opening possession on a backdoor find from Warren Washington to open the game.

 

After the Oregon Ducks (9-8, 3-3) tied the contest, Cambridge Jr. drilled ASU’s first three of the game at 18:51, putting the Sun Devils ahead, 5-2.

 

A brief scoring drought allowed for consecutive baskets by the Ducks, but Devan Cambridge pounded home an offensive rebound slam at 16:40, putting ASU back ahead 7-6.

Devan Cambridge proceeded to drill a triple from the right wing, a personal 5-0 run and the Sun Devils were back ahead by four. 

 

Frankie Collins’ first points came with 14:56 on a floater and ASU was on a 7-0 run over 1:45 and ahead, 12-6.

 

An Oregon trey broke their cold spell Cambridge Jr. hit another jumper, bringing him up to seven points and ASU’s lead was back up to five, 14-9. Horne continued to get involved, drilling his second three with 12:46 on the clock and ASU’s lead was up to a game-high eight, 20-12.

 

Fresh into the contest, Austin Nunez swiped the ball away from the Ducks and soared to a fast break slam. The Sun Devils had their first double digit lead of the game, 22-12 with 11:52 left in the stanza. Nunez capped a personal 5-0 run and forced an Oregon timeout with his first three pointer of the game.

 

ASU was on an 8-0 run over 1:34 and an 11-1 scoring stretch over 2:47 while holding the Ducks to 2:02 without a point and one make in their last eight shots.

Luther Muhammad made his presence felt out of the timeout, nailing his first basket, a three from the right wing with 10:14 to go in the half and ASU was doubling up the Ducks, 28-14.

 

Washington’s layup at 8:28 made it an 18-point game and extended ASU’s run to seven over 1:55. A Duck turnover gave way to a Cambridge Jr. triple from Collins that made the score 35-14 at 8:07.

Into the media timeout at 6:41, ASU was on a 12-2 scoring edge over 3:33. They also had a 25-7 advantage over the last 7:57. It was more of the same for ASU into the next break as the Sun Devils were on a 7-0 run over 1:43 with 3:40 left in the first half.

 

Oregon hit three straight treys in 1:18 to cut the score to 44-29, ASU. The Sun Devils were forced to use a timeout. Cambridge Jr. snapped the run with a jumper at :37 and the Sun Devils took a 46-29 advantage into the halftime break.

 

SECOND HALF

Cambridge Jr. scored the first five points of the second half, extending ASU’s lead to 51-29 with 19:02 to play. He then found a flying Washington for a dunk at 17:06, bringing the Sun Devil lead to a game-high 25.

 

Washington recorded his first rejection of the night at 14:42 on the clock.

 

His second block came with 12:08 left and Muhammad cashed his second three with 11:57 left in regulation, bringing the lead back to 25, 69-44. Washington dropped in a find from Jamiya Neal for a 6-0 Sun Devil run over 1:01.

A layup by Nunez at 10:50 led ASU into the media timeout :21 seconds later on an 8-0 run over 1:57, leading 73-44.

Oregon proceeded to go on a a 7-0 run over 1:34 to cut the ASU lead to 22 with 8:57 left in regulation.

 

Desmond Cambridge Jr. stole the basketball at 6:48 and found brother Devan at 6:33 for a layup, bringing the lead back to 20, 77-57. 

The Sun Devils increased their lead by three into the final media timeout 3:48, ASU led by 21, 85-64. Arizona State closed out the victory, 90-73.

 

QUOTABLES

 

Arizona State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Bobby Hurley

Opening Statement…

“We were just clicking on offense. Des (Cambridge Jr.) hit some shots early, and we were spreading the wealth to different guys. We were making shots and making plays and assisted baskets. And it was coming in the half court and in transition. Our defense was rock solid again and it has to be on the road obviously. We just had a little bit of a poor stretch at the end of the first half and they switched to a 1-3-1 and it took us a little bit of time to adjust to that because we haven’t seen much of that this year.”

 

On comparing tonight’s win to win versus Michigan:

“It felt a little bit like that in terms of score and the way multiple guys were making shots. But even our bench came in and Luther Muhammad hit shots, Austin Nunez made plays, especially in the first half had seven points in like six minutes. So like, we were getting it from a lot of different areas.”

 

On ASU’s defensive effect on games:

“I think it’s managed to keep us in games when we’re not playing our best and on nights like this when we’re really going on offense, we’re really tough to deal with. But certainly, when you defend with the energy like we do, and our athleticism, and our depth, I think all those things help us become a really good defensive team.”

 

Arizona State Men’s Basketball Guard Desmond Cambridge Jr.

On taking the crowd out of this game…

“I feel like the goal is, coming into an away game, just because the crowd is a huge factor and I feel like that’s why road games are so important. Obviously, they practice here. We came out of the gate, and Coach Hurley really wanted to emphasize playing well in the first four minutes so I think we did that, so they never really had a chance to get into the game.”

 

On hitting shots early…

“We were kind of worried about their length and athleticism but when we’re shooting that good, we can be really good.”

 

On not taking the ball into the paint…


“DJ [Horne] and I, we’re shooters first. When you see it go in a couple times, you’re trying to just ride that wave and momentum until you miss a couple. We were getting out in transition… that’s my brother [Devan, who walked by and proclaimed Desmond for President], he actually dunk tipped one of my missed threes. Everything was going our way.”


UP NEXT

The Sun Devils continue the trail through Beaver State, facing Oregon State Saturday. Tip is set for 2:00 p.m. MST.





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