Arizona’s No. 1 ranked men’s basketball team made easy work of ASU as the Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 91-68 in front of a sold-out crowd of 14,527 Thursday night in McKale Center.
The UA was led by a balanced offensive effort that saw seven Wildcats break double-digits. The Wildcats attacked the basket with 56 percent accuracy compared to the Sun Devils’ 34 percent shooting.
Arizona (18-0, 5-0 Pac-12) returned from halftime with additional intensity and quickly reclaimed its 20-point lead in less than three minutes. The Wildcats led ASU (13-5, 2-3) at one time by 27 points. Arizona’s superb defensive abilities kept a Sun Devil offense — that coming into tonight averaged 77.5 points — to only 68.
Junior point guard T.J. McConnell and freshman forward Aaron Gordon jump-started Arizona with eight of its first 12 points of the half. McConnell scored 10 points overall, while compiling a game-high six assists.
Gordon added eight points and two boards to his first half performance and ended the night with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Junior Nick Johnson led the team with 17 points and also had two rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Sophomores Brandon Ashley and Gabe York combined for 20 points and nine rebounds on the night. Ashley scored 10 points while shooting four-for-nine from the field and added five rebounds and four assists while York continued to show consistency from beyond the arc. York had 10 points from three 3-pointers to complement two assists.
Sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski contributed with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Freshman forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson shared game-high rebound (eight) honors with Tarczewski to go along with 11 points, two assists, a block and a steal.
—Follow Evan Rosenfeld @EvanRosenfeld17