Arizona’s rebounding overwhelms Sun Devils in closing stretch of win

At the end of the first half between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats, there were two clear statistics standing out.

Wildcats point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright had three fouls, and the rebounding edge was only plus-one to the Wildcats, 16-15.

Jackson-Cartwright was Arizona’s best player during a dominant opening 10 minutes and change that they led 30-13, which was ASU’s largest deficit of the season.

Rebounding was where the Wildcats were expected to be much better, but they weren’t in the first half.

The story in the second half, though, would be the foul trouble on the other side and how it let Arizona dominate inside for a 77-70 victory.

With 13:20 left, ASU’s Mickey Mitchell would pick up his fourth foul. Romello White’s fourth would soon follow at 11:09 remaining and De’Quon Lake would also have four at 8:53 to go.

With the Wildcats often playing Deandre Ayton and Dusan Ristic together, they would run that duo through the rest of the game.

In doing that, Ristic or Ayton ended nearly every possession with a touch and were constantly crashing the offensive glass. The Sun Devils were simply overwhelmed by the pair in crunch-time of the highly competitive game.

Ayton was a monster, more than he usually is, in the second half. He had 17 of his 25 points and 14 of his 16 rebounds in the closing 20 minutes.

With the Sun Devils’ bigs afraid to initiate contact because of that aforementioned foul trouble, that along with Ayton’s freakish athleticism had him and his team owning the ball around the rim.

As a team, Arizona had 28 rebounds in the second half, the same amount the Sun Devils finished with for the entire game. That had the Wildcats finish with a plus-16 edge on the glass.

While ASU’s double teams did force four turnovers out of Ayton, he was still maintaining a certain level of success as a passer out of those situations, dishing out four assists.

Not to be outdone, Ristic was also involved in those efforts, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The two combined for 12 offensive rebounds alone.

Ayton had 12 free throws attempts, the same amount ASU finished with as a team.

With Ayton being a potential No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and the senior Ristic moving on next season, Bobby Hurley and company have to feel good about not having to face the pair next year.

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