Last time Arizona State met rival Arizona, Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley pulled his team from the court at the last minute after double-technical fouls and drafts were evaluated to Hans Side’s BJ Freeman and Wildcats’ Caleb love.
No. 24 Arizona (19-10, 13-5 BIG 12), who won the heated matchup 81-72 on February 1 in Tempe, hosts the Omatch on Tuesday evening in Tucson.
Arizona State (13-16, 4-14) no longer has Freeman, who was dismissed from the team last month for behavior that is harmful to the team.
Hurley, the subject of conservation among the media in the Phoenix area about his job status, may soon be gone.
Sun Devils has lost eight of its last nine matches, starting with the defeat against Arizona.
Injuries and disciplinary measures taken against Freeman and South California Transfer Brandon Gardner, interrupted most of the season for a violation of the legal rules have taken a toll.
Hurley’s team lost on Utah 99-73 on Saturday without Jayden Quaince (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 emailing it, not laying down their heads or feeling sorry for themselves.
“We have guys who play who have not really played much or not in these roles or have not been all year. These are just the circumstances we are in.”
Joson Sanon, who once became involved in Arizona, met with four of five 3-point attempts and ended with a career pile of 28 points against Ut.
Sanon made 18 in the previous match against Byu but had on average only five points in the previous four competitions. He missed five out of eight matches due to a justified ankle during a stretch early in the conference schedule.
Arizona has lost four of his last six matches, including a defeat of 84-67 at then no. 9 Iowa State on Saturday.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd liked how his team struggled after releasing 24 during the second half against the cyclones.
Wildcats came as close as nine with 3:03 left.
“I’m really proud of our guys for struggling back,” Lloyd said. “It could have been a 30-part there, and our guys hung out with it. We were proud. We are here for it and we are on to the next.”
Arizona’s season-long problem with circuit shooting continued, as Wildcats made only 4 out of 22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point intervals.
Over the weekend, Arizona No. 311 in the nation ranked in 3-point shooting percentage of 31.2 percent.
Love has struggled all season and made 30.8 percent of their shots beyond the bow. He was 2 out of 10 from 3-point intervals against Iowa State and 2 out of 15 overall from the field.
“We’re not the best 3-point shooting team you’ve ever seen,” Lloyd said. “This is not Golden State Warriors 2017. We are a shit team and it is a bit ugly sometimes, but that is exactly how we stopped being built. We have won many games that do it.”
Anthony Dell’orso, a transfer from Campbell, is Arizona’s best 3-point shooter of 40.4 percent (40 out of 99).
-Field level media
